Gary Loveman, Paths to Power

Gary Loveman, a former assistant professor at Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, became Chief Operating Officer of Harrah’s Entertainment in 1998. He was an outsider in a very insular business who had no significant administrative or managerial experience. In this video, Loveman discusses his definition of success, his strategy for achieving it, and how everyone who reported to him believed that he or she was a better candidate for the COO position than Loveman was. He talks about critical relationships and how to serve those relationships on a daily basis so that key people do not feel marginalized or cut out. Loveman also explains that as one moves into senior positions, he or she no longer has the luxury of relationships not working. Instead, senior executives are responsible for making critical relationships work so that the company is well served.