My CEO Buddy, Dave Komansky

One of my favorite CEOs ever is gone. I first met Dave Komansky when I spoke early in my career to the Global Leadership Conference for Merrill Lynch. It was a stellar lineup of speakers to their top 750 people, at a great hotel in New York City. I was the "Who's he?" among the "Who's Who." I showed up in a dark blue sport coat, stripe shirt, grey pants or khakis and I think a pair of old dirty bucks. As I sat down at his head table, Komansky got one look at me, tugged on the pants leg of the guy who had hired me, and growled in a mumble, "This guy better be good." My host turned white and prayed. I had 45 minutes for an hour talk, no visuals, and no stage big enough to roam, only to stand. 300 people to my left, 300 to my right, 150 in front of me. No lav mic, just one screwed to the podium. I was a fish and there was no water.

Many people called Komansky the best negotiator in the world. He was loved or feared. A junior college guy, he transferred to the University of Miami, dropped out, went into the service, started as an intern at Merrill and worked his way up to co-CEO with Dan Tully. It was about 1995. And each year then, it was Miami vs Notre Dame where I taught for the national championship. Komansky looked like an offensive guard. Six Four, he must have weighed near 300 pounds. I gave my talk with as much positive energy as I could, despite my nerves. And I got a thunderous standing ovation! It went on and on, and then Komansky jumped up from his chair, ran up to the stage, grabbed the microphone, and yelled "I take back everything I've ever said about Notre Dame!" and got a HUGE laugh that would not stop. After I came down from the stage, a distinguished looking man rushed up to me and hugged me and almost picked me up off the floor while saying "Everybody in Washington DC needs to hear what you just said today! Great, really great!" He introduced himself as Don Regan, whom I then recognized as Ronald Reagan's Chief of Staff. As I later left the room, Komansky saw me, and growled out, "Good job, Professor. Now go get yourself a nice suit." He then had me do about 43 talks for Merrill Lynch in a 3 year period.

The next leadership gathering was at the Biltmore Hotel in Montecito, California. My new friend Norman Lear had driven up from LA to hear my talk. I was walking toward the building where I'd speak, and Komansky, siting at an outdoor table, saw me in a suit that he had paid for. He must have noticed my shirt and tie. "Hey Professor, you only clash in about three ways today," he called out, while wearing an orange plaid sport coat, a green dress shirt and who knows what else. I said, "Watch it, now, I may have to call on you with some questions during my talk." He smiled and said in a slow cadence and tone befitting Tony Soprano, "Yeah, just remember ... I'm on after you." I ended up doing nearly 70 talks for Merrill, for which they paid me each time my Notre Dame annual starting salary, or more. I realized that some of the sharpest people in modern business truly appreciated ancient wisdom and how it can apply today, and that gave me the impetus to go forth with even more confidence in my little enterprise as a solo philosopher loose in the world, sometimes clashing in about three ways. I'll miss Dave Komansky a lot.

To read More of his life and work click here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/business/david-h-komansky-dead.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20211006&instance_id=41962&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=25253920&segment_id=70751&user_id=0ed4463b33194ec1303afc5ce200600d