[Corner Office] I Was Impossible, but Then I Saw How to Lead; New York Times, 12/3/11

[Corner Office] Adam Bryant, New York Times; Interview with Ruth J. Simmons, president of Brown University for the last 11 years: I Was Impossible, but Then I Saw How to Lead:

"Q. But at some point, particularly when you became a manager, you realized you couldn’t be so impossible.

A. It was living, frankly. And the experience of understanding that the ways in which I was trying to solve problems and to interact with people were getting in the way of achieving what I want. And that’s what did it for me. Ultimately, I came to understand that I could achieve far more if I worked amiably with people, if I supported others’ goals, if I didn’t try to embarrass people by pointing out their deficiencies in a very public way. So I think it was really experience that did it more than anything else."