Brian Gladden worked for GE for 20 years before being wooed away by Michael Dell himself to become CFO of Dell. Gladden spent time visiting with BHP students last week during the sophomore lyceum course. He shared a bit about his background at GE, where he held roles in internal auditing, finance, operations management, and finally as a CEO for GE Plastics. He said he is proud of the fact that he took the plastics business to a place where there was value for GE, selling it for more than anticipated. Once it sold, he stayed on for a bit until receiving a call from a recruiter about the CFO opportunity with Dell.
Gladden said he was initially hesitant about taking the opportunity because of the liabilities and responsibilities that go along with being the CFO of a public company, but ultimately the opportunities were so compelling that he made the decision to move to Austin and take the position. Coming in, he said he built his team to make sure he had good people around him who could teach him more about the areas he didn’t know. “Curiosity is important,” he told the students. “Don’t be afraid to ask dumb questions. Understand how it works, and why it works, so that you know as much as you can about the business and can respond to people’s questions.” Heeding his advice, our students asked Gladden a barrage of questions on a multitude of subjects, and he answered each one thoroughly and without hesitation, wowing everyone with his breadth and depth of knowledge.
One area of Dell’s growth that Gladden has been largely responsible for is their venture into mergers and acquisitions. Around five years ago Dell started investing in other companies, a strategy which he pushed to Michael Dell, and has acquired at least 25 companies since that time. “Think about acquisitions as a portfolio. Some are going to excel and some aren’t. We have to have a lot of bets going at the same time to have confidence that in the aggregate, we will deliver on your financial goals.”
Another strength that Gladden has brought to Dell is operational expertise. Part of his job is to provide a reality check for new ideas and initiatives. He asks the questions like how much will it cost, and what are the operations necessary to make this happen? He pointed out that stretching yourself and delving into new territories is a good thing, but that it can’t take up so much time that you aren’t doing what you need to do. One way that he keeps from getting too off track following new initiatives is to align his calendar with his business priorities. He actually takes the time to work out how many days per month he wants to spend on specific priorities and he audits his time monthly to make sure he is on track.
One of his priorities is developing the next generation of leadership for Dell. “Leadership skills have to evolve and be adapted to the current situation and environment. People build different skills in different situations,” he said. He went on to explain that this is why at Dell they push employees to move to new positions with new teams in different environments. As a top leader at Dell, Gladden said he is keenly aware of all that he is responsible for and the scrutiny that goes along with his position. “I try to set a great example for my employees and make sure that the company is growing and increasing profits for shareholders.”