Close Calls

Richard "Skip" LeFauve
President of General Motors University
LeFauve's Choice: What's My Legacy?

The Dilemma
As president of General Motors's Saturn Corp., Richard "Skip" LeFauve had worked for more than 10 years to overturn much of the conventional wisdom in his industry: Unions and management can't work together; American automakers can't compete with the Japanese; company decisions can't be made by consensus. In late 1996, General Motors suggested that he leave Saturn to head up a new venture - GM University. LeFauve resisted the move.

The Deliberation
Helping to create Saturn - from the plant's team-driven environment to the brand's funky, home-style ads - was a labor of love for LeFauve. But the offer of the university post triggered new reflection in LeFauve. Was there more to life than Saturn? "I got to talking to myself and thinking, 'You're not going to live forever. What's more, they're not going to put up with you forever. So, what if you created something that would last forever?' " LeFauve says. "If I really put a solid foundation under the university, it would be there long after I'm gone."

The Decision
The fourth time GM offered him the job, LeFauve accepted. Since March 1997, he's applied the lessons he learned at Saturn to build one of the world's most ambitious virtual universities. Leaders within GM are the teachers; union members, managers, and representatives from communities near GM plants are the students. LeFauve has no doubts about his choice. "I've had people come up to me, choked up about what the GM University experience has meant to them personally and professionally," he says. "I've heard them use phrases like 'life-changing event.' "

Joy Carver
Founder, Carver & Associates
Carver's Choice: A Question of Values

The Dilemma
When Joy Carver left her job as executive director of management development at Honeywell in 1991, she didn't get more money or better benefits from her new employer. What she got was a promise that she would be allowed to take advantage of educational opportunities as they arose. That was incentive enough for her to accept a lateral move. Nine months after she relocated, she was invited to attend an elite two-week CEO retreat, all expenses paid. Her new company said no.

The Deliberation
When Carver called the associate who had extended the invitation, she shared her shock and disappointment. "If I could, I would leave the company today," she said. "How much are your expenses?" asked the associate, who was a friend of hers. "I'll bridge you." The offer jolted Carver into thinking about her options. If she did leave, what would she want to do?

The Decision
Carver gave 30 days' notice and went to the retreat in Colorado. Then she started her own consulting firm, Carver & Associates, which now does a thriving business offering team-building, leadership, and human-development programs to such companies as Citicorp and Coca-Cola. Even without her friend's loan offer, Carver says she would have left her then-new employer. "It was not a big choice," she says. "In my soul, I felt that I could no longer be with people who had broken such a big promise. I had to leave to do something that was more compatible with my values."

Andy Bechtolsheim
Vice president of engineering, Cisco Systems
Bechtolsheim's Choice: Fight or Sell?

The Dilemma
In 1995, Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the original engineering geniuses behind Sun Microsystems, left to start his own company - Granite Systems. Its product: Gigabit Ethernet switching, which promised to be a relatively cheap way for companies to increase the volume of information they could send across internal computer networks. One year later, Bechtolsheim noticed that what had been a wide-open market was already filling up with agile, well-financed startups as well as large, established competitors. Should he bank his company's future on the new product (which wasn't ready to ship) or sell Granite to a big player while it was still worth something?

The Deliberation
Granite had superior technology. It didn't have time - time to establish sales channels or to expand its marketing "department" from one person to a real team. "The real question was whether there was a distinct-enough business opportunity - enough of one to base a new company on it?" Bechtolsheim says.