肯•鲍威尔

    公司：通用磨坊公司

    《财富》500强排名：169

    加州本地人鲍威尔于1979年加入通用磨坊公司，担任格兰诺拉麦片的销售助理。之后他曾担任过许多职位，其中包括：公司旗下酸奶及谷类食品公司Yoplait USA与Big G（包括Cheerios、Chex与Kix等品牌）的总裁。不过，鲍威尔职场的转折点是他被公司派往欧洲协助成立谷物联盟有限公司（Cereal Partners Worldwide，CPW）。这家公司是通用磨坊与雀巢公司（Nestle）的合营公司，目前在140个国家销售谷类食品。这段经历让鲍威尔对国际业务有了深入了解，并让他接触到其他公司的工作方式。1999年，他45岁时被任命为CPW公司CEO，开始执掌CWP，把它发展成了一家全球性的谷类食品公司。

    鲍威尔于2007年当选通用磨坊公司CEO的时候，他对这家公司已经有非常透彻的了解，包括公司的组织结构、人事、产品、客户与文化。这一点非常关键，但他在欧洲的经历以及他对于团队背景多样化的坚持同样至关重要：“（从头到尾在一家公司工作的）劣势是，你会存在盲区，因为你一直都在按照相同的方式工作。一旦在一家公司工作太长时间，你所面临的问题是‘到底需要做出哪些改变？’”

Ken Powell

    Company: General Mills

    Fortune 500 rank: 169

    A native Californian, Powell joined General Mills in 1979 as a marketing assistant on its granola account. Among his many roles since: president of the company's yogurt and cereal lines, Yoplait USA and Big G (Cheerios, Chex and Kix are among its brands). But the turning point for Powell came when he was sent to Europe to help launch Cereal Partners Worldwide, a joint venture with Nestle that now distributes cereal to 140 countries. The experience gave Powell insight into international business as well as the workings of another company. In 1999, when he was made CPW CEO, Powell assumed the reins to a global cereal company at 45.

    By the time Powell was elected CEO of General Mills in 2007, he really knew the company—the organization, its people, products, customers and culture. That was critical, but so was his time in Europe and his insistence on having a team with diverse backgrounds: "The downside [to being a lifer] is you have blind spots because you've always done it this way. The question becomes 'what really needs to be changed?' when you've been embedded in it so long."