Leadership tips from a successful ‘survivor’

I first met Andrew Liveris in 2012 in Florida, at the most significant annual meeting of prominent Greek Americans of the Leadership 100 organization, which had been founded by Archbishop Iakovos. It was during the peak of the Greek economic crisis and the forecast was grim. The disappointment felt by some about developments in the country of their forebears was palpable in the big hall of the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach. But the keynote speaker, Andrew Liveris, the Greek-Australian CEO of Dow Chemical for 14 years, raised the banners. "If not now, then when will we stand by the crisis-hit people's side?" he asked, challenging the prevailing sentiment at the conference, which was that Greece was beyond redemption. Liveris disagreed and, together with other influential members of the diaspora - such as George Stamas - went on to establish The Hellenic Initiative (THI), a pioneering...