Harvard M.B.A.'s have long occupied executive suites throughout corporate America, but George W. Bush, '75, was the first to make it to the top box of the nation's organizational chart. Now, Michael R. Bloomberg, '66, has won what has been called "the second-toughest job in America." That doesn't mean they will manage alike, however. Here is a head-to-head comparison of the two, as consultants might see them.
MANAGEMENT STYLE
Bush: Hands-off
Bloomberg: Hands-on
MANAGEMENT APPROACH
Bush: Corporate — tightly organized, hierarchical, decentralized, cabinet with several former chief executives
Bloomberg: Entrepreneurial — free-form, flat, centralized, one chief executive
STYLE SHIFT
Bush: Started as an entrepreneur and became corporate
Bloomberg: Started in a big corporation and became an entrepreneur
TIME MANAGEMENT
Bush: Believes strongly that "reasonable" work hours are more efficient and, when possible, leaves the Oval Office by 6:30 p.m.
Bloomberg: "The rewards almost always go to those who outwork the others. You've got to come in early and stay late."
PUBLIC SPEAKING
Bush: Rarely wanders beyond speech text or talking points
Bloomberg: Rarely hews to speech text or talking points
BUSINESS MODEL
Bush: "I am a strong advocate of accountability. I believe in results. After all, I ran a baseball team. The box scores are delivered in the driveway every morning, for everyone to read."
Bloomberg: "Our customers think we walk on water, and we do. And I can do that for the city."
EPONYMOUS BRANDING
Bush: Started company called Arbusto Energy ("Bush" in Spanish)
Bloomberg: Started company called Bloomberg
BUSINESS SCHOOL REPUTATION
Bush: Very confident, didn't speak a lot in class
Bloomberg: Very confident, was never at a loss for words
WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT B-SCHOOL
Bush: "Business school was a turning point for me. Harvard gave me the tools and the vocabulary of the business world. It taught me the principles of capital, how it is accumulated, risked, spent and managed."
Bloomberg: "Harvard's `case method' teaching honed my analytic skills and sharpened my communications abilities. There's nothing as educational as the instantaneous feedback of 100 classmates shouting you down when you're caught unprepared or can't justify a position."
FIRST POST-M.B.A. JOB RESPONSIBILITY
Bush: Pulled deed records in West Texas courthouses as an apprentice landman
Bloomberg: Counted bond and stock certificates in an un-air-conditioned bank vault at Salomon Brothers
FIRST AMONG EQUALS
Bush: First member of his Harvard class to be president of the United States
Bloomberg: First member of his Harvard class to make partner of a Wall Street firm
HIGHEST ELECTIVE OFFICE BEFORE POLITICS
Bush: President, Delta Kappa Epsilon (Yale)
Bloomberg: President, Phi Kappa Psi, Inter-Fraternity Council and class (Johns Hopkins)
REGIONAL EXPANSION
Bush: Born in New England, portrays himself as quintessential Texan
Bloomberg: Born in New England, portrays himself as quintessential New Yorker
REPACKAGING FOR NEW ROLLOUT
Bush: Compassionate Conservative
Bloomberg: Republican
SENATOR JOHN McCAIN FACTOR
Bush: McCain ran bitter campaign decrying his refusal to keep to spending limits
Bloomberg: McCain enthusiastically campaigned for him despite his refusal to keep to spending limits
BASEBALL POSITION
Bush: Said he was rooting for "ABY — Anyone But the Yankees" in the playoffs
Bloomberg: When queried about his favorite baseball team, he said, "My answer to that is: I grew up in Boston."
TRADING SKILLS
Bush: Traded Sammy Sosa to Chicago White Sox in 1989
Bloomberg: Oversaw top equity trading operation on Wall Street at Salomon
WEAKNESSES
Bush: "Sitting down and reading a 500-page book on public policy or philosophy or something."
Bloomberg: "I, too, think I can do everything better than anyone else [at Bloomberg]. Still, my ego does allow for the remote possibility that someone might be as good at one or two little things."
MANAGEMENT FEALTY
Bush: Self-described loyalty enforcer for his father — "If somebody jumped my old man, I was jumping back."
Bloomberg: Refuses to attend going-away parties for departing employees. "I don't wish them ill, but I can't exactly wish them well. We're trying to feed our families, and his or her leaving makes that task more difficult. Loyalty is everything. Our people expect me to have it to them and vice versa."
CAMPAIGN SPENDING
Bush: "I think if you're a corrupt person, you'll be corrupted by money."
Bloomberg: "Society needs more people who want to change the world and make it better with their own money."
HOBBIES
Bush: Fishing, country music, reading biographies and mysteries, running, weightlifting.
Bloomberg: "Theater, dining and chasing women. Let me put it this way. I'm a single, straight billionaire in Manhattan. What do you think?"
MOST FAMOUS DATE
Bush: Tricia Nixon, 1969
Bloomberg: Diana Ross, 2000
AUTOBIOGRAPHY COPIES IN PRINT
Bush: 250,000 for "A Charge to Keep"
Bloomberg: 75,000 for "Bloomberg by Bloomberg"
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