John Pepper: A Level 5 Leader?

John Pepper: A Level 5 Leader?

Walk into a store anywhere in the world and you will be confronted with multiple products owned by the corporation known as Proctor and Gamble. Products range from femine hygiene, like Always, to diapers, like pampers to food products like Pringles, to cosmetics like Cover Girl, to toothpaste, like Crest. At the helm of this multinational conglomerate from 1995 to 1999, was president and CEO John Pepper. What kind of leader does it take to run such a large and diverse company with more than a dozen billion dollar per year brands? John Pepper is a level 5 leader as described in Jim Collins' book Good to Great. Mr. Pepper has a passion for his business, gets the right people on the bus and in the right seats, is humble, balances his personal life, confronts the brutal facts and has the hedgehog concept required for success.

John Pepper worked for Proctor and Gamble for 31 years before his promotion to in 1995. This type of dedication takes passion. Mr. Pepper describes his thoughts on the subject in the following quote, "If there is one quality that has characterized every great leader I've ever known, it's informed passion. Men and women with informed passion are single-minded. They have a dream, a vision, and they will not let it go, even if they have to sacrifice for it. They are so informed and so prepared that they almost always achieve their objective…this is the feeling I had at P&G." (Pepper 220) This is a key characteristic shared by all level 5 leaders.

After passion, a great team is needed by a level 5 leader. Mr. Pepper repeatedly states in his book that recruiting good people and promoting from within has given Proctor and Gamble and advantage as evident in the following statement, "We had recruited outstanding people," (Pepper 265). Next, it is important to have these people in the right jobs. Mr. Pepper does this through giving constructive feedback to his subordinates. He admits that this was not always easy to do, but necessary. The following quote describes his first experience, "…I can still recall the first time I had to tell a young assistant, eager and very talented in many ways, that I didn't think his strengths were a good fit with marketing. I urged that he look into sales and he did…this kind of honest feedback takes courage and care." (Pepper 213)

Mr. Pepper never takes credit for the success that Proctor and Gamble received under his direct leadership. Instead he repeatedly gives credit to his employees. "What makes this possible, above all, are the people," (Pepper 209), and "In the end it is the quality of people-their capabilities, commitment, and character-that determines the success of any company," (Pepper 266) are just a couple of quotes found in his book What Really Matters that show his humility. Mr. Pepper recognizes