Word: carlson
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...bound by any need to satisfy directors or shareholders, Carlson moves freely. Like a hummingbird, he darts from company to company, quickly moving in to focus attention on one aspect of his operations, then moving on to the next. A magnet for minutiae, he once dropped in on one of his hotels unannounced and wrote a lengthy memo to the manager on the impropriety of serving mashed potatoes with an omelet; according to Carlson, the accompaniment should have been French fries...
...normally keeps dozens of new deals going at once. His independence gives him a competitive edge over rivals, who must go through strict management channels. Once, while spending a weekend relaxing aboard his company's 85-ft. yacht, the Curt-C, Carlson heard a Milwaukee promotion company that produces inflight shopping catalogues was for sale. He bought the firm within two days...
...employees, Carlson is part saint, part demon. He works tirelessly, and expects nothing less from subordinates. His executive row is nicknamed Ulcer Alley. Managers must meet monthly profits targets or file "deviation reports" explaining how and why they were unable to do so. An annual four-day show-and-tell fiesta at the sprawling company lodge at Minnesuing Acres near Superior, Wis., also spurs executive performance. Corporate officers are required to recount how they have or have not met their sales goals of the year. Recalls a former employee: "Carlson would chew you out for three hours straight while others...
...Carlson, who once threatened to drive nails up through a salesman's chair to get him out on the road, amply rewards performance. Roughly 20 executives get a new luxury car every year, and high-achievers can receive bonuses of up to 50% of their salary. To celebrate the company's ascension to the $1 billion sales mark, 39 senior officers and their spouses will be treated to a three-week trip through the Orient this month. More important, says Carlson, "my top executives will retire as millionaires...
Ever since he was young, Carlson has shown a colorful blend of salesmanship and independence. After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1937, he took an $85-a-month job as a soap salesman, but the entrepreneurial spirit moved him in 1938 to ask his landlord for a deferral of a month's rent. With this $55 he started the Gold Bond Stamp Co. He quit his job and began selling the stamps to neighborhood grocers until 1952, then advanced to supermarkets. The seven-to eight-month "float" between the time that he sold the stamps...