1. 梅樂迪?霍布森和杰弗里?卡岑伯格

10年前，星巴克公司（Starbucks）首席執行官霍華德?舒爾茨將梅樂迪?霍布森引見給夢工廠動畫公司（DreamWorks Animation SKG）的首席執行官杰弗里?卡岑伯格。卡岑伯格花了5秒種就決定讓霍布森加入他的董事會。霍布森當年44歲，現在是夢工廠的非執行董事長，還在星巴克、雅詩蘭黛（Estée Lauder）和團購網站Groupon公司擔任董事。62歲的卡岑伯格解釋說，她是一位有價值的顧問，因為她能把復雜的問題簡化，總是考慮長遠，提出疑問時不會咄咄逼人。兩人回憶說，有一次，他想要做一筆“數十億美元的收購”，而她明智的勸告阻止了他。夢工廠的首席執行官在洛杉磯邊吃早餐邊說：“如果說她是拳擊手，她能打出一記足令你倒下的重拳，給你的感覺卻像是被一根羽毛擊中。--Patricia Sellers

卡岑伯格：我最喜歡你的一個說法是“不要舍本逐末”。

霍布森：我見過的首席執行官犯下的最大錯誤是他們陷進短期目標，這就是舍本逐末。

卡岑伯格：我是個情緒化的人。（收購機遇）必須是一個商業決策，不能感情用事。她幫我剝離了事實以外的東西，用我不可能有的視角來看問題。

霍布斯：我們通了很多電話。杰弗里真的非常想進行那筆收購，但他缺乏支持。（我的介入是通過）列舉出所有可能的結果，做一次認真的交談：這是一個孤注一擲的行動嗎？你想過這點、那點和其他情況嗎？我并沒有原原本本告訴他我的想法，而是盡量通過提問題把它點出來。

卡岑伯格：梅樂迪的藝術就蘊含在這里面。

霍布森：我說：“你相信這個數字嗎？”他會說：“我壓價40%。”我說：“好吧，如果你壓價，這對于你的待人不疑意味著什么？”

卡岑伯格：她是提問的大師。她能問出誰也問不出的問題。你必須自己想辦法回答。這可是真正的藝術。

霍夫森：最終，所有人都做了該做的事。

卡岑伯格：我們最終沒有進行（那筆交易）。我不后悔。我在這個過程中學到了很多。董事會和公司也因為這段經歷變得更好。

1.Mellody Hobson & Jeffrey Katzenberg

A decade ago, when Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz introduced Mellody Hobson to DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA) chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, it took Katzenberg five seconds to decide that he wanted Hobson on his board of directors. Hobson, the 44-year-old president of Chicago-based Ariel Investments, is now DreamWorks' nonexecutive chairman and also on the boards of Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500), Estée Lauder (EL, Fortune 500), and Groupon (GRPN). She's a valuable adviser, the 62-year-old Katzenberg explains, because she simplifies complex problems, always thinks long term, and asks questions in an unthreatening way. "If Mellody were a boxer, she would have a knockout punch that would make you feel like you got hit by a feather," the DreamWorks CEO said over breakfast in Los Angeles, as the two recalled one time when he wanted to make a "multibillion-dollar acquisition" and her wise counsel stopped him. --Patricia Sellers

Katzenberg: My favorite expression of yours is "Don't major in the minor."

Hobson: The biggest mistake I see CEOs make is that they get caught up in the short term. That's majoring in the minor.

Katzenberg: I'm an emotional person. [This acquisition opportunity] needed to be a business decision, not an emotional decision. She helped peel away the things that were not the facts and look at it in a way that I wasn't able to do on my own.

Hobson: It was many, many hours on the phone. Jeffrey really wanted to do it, and he didn't have the support. [I approached the situation by] laying out all the potential outcomes and having a real conversation about: Is this a bet-the-ranch move? Did you think of this, that, and the other? As opposed to telling him what I thought, I tried to get at it with questions.

Katzenberg: Therein lies Mellody's art.

Hobson: I'd say, "Do you believe this number?" He'd say, "I discounted the number by 40%." And I said, "Well, if you're discounting the number, what does this say about your belief in the people?"

Katzenberg: She is the Picasso of questions. She can ask a question like nobody else. You have to find in yourself the answer to it. There's a real art to that.

Hobson: Ultimately everyone did the right thing.

Katzenberg: We didn't do [the deal]. I was okay that we didn't do it. I learned a lot from the process. The board and the company are better for the experience.