It's Not Just About Command And Control

from Forbes:

The unexpected moment Stephen Smith had to prove he could run Equinix.

When they were recruiting me, then chief executive Peter Van Camp called out of the blue and said, "Do you have two or three hours you can spend with me?" I said, "Sure." He came over, picked me up and drove me down to look at one of these data centers. He wanted to observe me on how I asked questions, how I interacted with the people.

And at the time, I didn't realize it. He was watching me to see whether I cared about the people here. Did I care about what we did as a business? It was a big test.

He wasn't looking for a command and control. He was looking for somebody that was willing to listen, learn the business and then lead. He wanted to make sure I was going to fit in culturally.