Coca Cola and Tommy the barber
The latest Fortune magazine has an intriguing story about the fight for the top job at Coca Cola. Betsy Morris, the author of this article, vividly describes the core groups, the back stabbing, the conspiracies and the politics behind these power struggles. Now, this article would have been just another good read for me if it had not been for Betsy's portrayal of another important character in these Coke feuds -- Tommy the barber. You see, in such a state of secretive politicking, it gets really difficult to get hold of the right kind of information -- who's doing what, who's conspiring with whom, etc. To get this inside stuff, the top brass would go to Tommy the barber. Walter "Tommy" Thomas has cut the hair of top Coke executives for years. He knows what decisions will be made even before the board. He knows when a CEO's days are numbered and who the new CEO is likely to be. "He understands all the feuds and knows where all the skeletons are buried." In social network terms, Tommy the barber is a "maven" (and to some extent, a "connector"). Tommy also holds a sense of hidden power. "I don't go to Tommy because he's such a great barber," says a one Coke executive. "I go to him because I'm afraid not to." Wonderful stuff.Permalink | Monday, May 31, 2004
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