????高德威正在感受音樂的節奏。他啜飲了一口激浪飲料，不時伴隨著Jay-Z那首《Hard Knock Life》中悸動的貝斯音搖頭晃腦。這位霍尼韋爾國際公司（Honeywell International）——年營收達371億美元的世界最大工業集團之一——的首席執行官身著他常穿的工作服：年代久遠的短皮夾克、寬松的牛仔褲和沉重的工作靴?；裟犴f爾總部位于新澤西州莫里斯縣，無甚奢華之處，仿佛還停留在上世紀60年代。波士頓紅襪隊的球衣點綴著墻壁，他身后的背景則是一座容量達210加侖的魚缸，那是高德威的前任留給他的。需要靈感的時候，他會尋求iTunes與Shuffle播放器的幫助?！拔以诜掌魃洗媪?萬首歌，”他說?！耙魳窂牟煌Ｐ　?/p>

????高德威本人也一樣閑不住。聽著比莉?荷莉戴的《God Bless the Child》和尼爾?戴蒙德的《Forever in Blue Jeans》背景下，他忽然不再講個人經歷，而是談起了商業遠見，話題的轉換就像音樂流派的變幻一樣靈活自然。高德威回憶了他年輕時在緬因州捕撈鱈魚的冒險經歷，不過從他的嗓音中，可以聽出他是在新罕布什爾州長大。片刻之后，他又開始解釋渦輪增壓器技術，然后大談特談他2010年為辛普森-鮑爾斯赤字委員會效勞的經歷。高德威警告說：“令人驚奇的是，即使我國經濟增長強勁，未來赤字仍將非常高。”

????在當今商業世界，高德威這種人才日益罕見：與那些華而不實、毫無特色的首席執行官相反，他是位獨立的思想者。這位59歲的領導者洋溢著個人魅力，這倒不是因為他崇尚浮華、自命不凡，而是因為飽經磨礪、強調責任。用前大陸航空（Continental Airlines）首席執行官、霍尼韋爾董事戈登?貝休恩的話來說：“他帶領我們走出災難，創下卓越的業績，但卻從不自吹自擂。”

????高德威擔任霍尼韋爾首席執行官剛滿10年，他領導下的企業復興確實是近年來首屈一指的案例。如今霍尼韋爾已成為多元化工業巨頭中的佼佼者，從它為股東帶來的回報談起吧。2003年初以來，霍尼韋爾的股價從24美元漲至60%，再算上股息，投資者的累計回報率高達215%。霍尼韋爾的這一表現在工業集團中排行第二，僅次于回報率達229%的丹納赫公司（Danaher），領先于回報210%的聯合技術公司（United Technologies）。至于艾默生電氣（Emerson Electric，158%）、3M（80%）和高德威的老東家通用電氣（GE，9.4%），無不相形見絀。同一期間，標普500指數漲幅只有88%。CNBC財經電視臺主持人、前對沖基金經理吉姆?克萊默恰巧住在高德威隔壁——新澤西州時髦小城Summit。他評價說：“高德威將霍尼韋爾轉型為一家增長強勁的科技公司。他是這個時代最優秀的首席執行官之一，但行事低調、罕受關注?！?/p>

????譯者：小宇

????Dave Cote is feeling the beat. He takes a sip of Mountain Dew and bobs his head in time to the throbbing bass of Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life." The CEO of Honeywell International, one of the world's largest industrial conglomerates, with $37.1 billion in sales, is wearing his usual work attire -- a beat-up leather bomber jacket, baggy jeans, and clunky work boots. Cote's office in the company's frozen-in-the-1960s headquarters in Morris County, N.J., is nothing fancy. Boston Red Sox jerseys adorn the walls, and a 210-gallon fish tank he inherited gurgles in the background. But for inspiration, he turns to his iTunes and hits SHUFFLE. "I've got 10,000 songs on my server," he says. "The music never stops!"

????Neither does Cote. While tunes like Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" and Neil Diamond's "Forever in Blue Jeans" play in the background, Cote leaps from his personal history to business insights as nimbly as the music changes genres. You can hear Cote's New Hampshire upbringing in his voice as he recounts his youthful adventures as a cod fisherman in Maine. Moments later he's explaining the technology of turbochargers. Then he veers into his service on the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission in 2010. "What amazed me is how bad future deficits will be even if we have strong growth," warns Cote.

????Cote (pronounced CO-tee) is an increasingly rare commodity in the business world: an independent thinker who's the antithesis of a slick, prepackaged CEO. The 59-year-old fills a room not because he's an imperial type who prizes pomp, but because he's a rough-hewn leader who demands accountability. Says Honeywell director Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental Airlines: "He took us from a disaster to a hell of a company. And he never beat his chest while he was doing it."

????Indeed, Cote, who recently logged his 10th anniversary as CEO, has orchestrated one of the best corporate comebacks in recent memory. Today Honeywell (HON) ranks as a top performer among the diversified industrials, starting with how it has rewarded shareholders. Since the start of 2003, Honeywell's stock has surged from $24 to $60. Investors have reaped a total return, including dividends, of 215%. That puts Honeywell in second place among industrial conglomerates -- just behind Danaher (DHR), which returned 229%, and ahead of United Technologies (UTX), which has returned 210%. Honeywell's returns wax those of Emerson Electric (EMR) (158%), 3M (MMM) (80%), and Cote's alma mater, GE (GE) (9.4%). In the same period the S&P returned 88%. "Cote has transformed Honeywell into a technology company with strong growth," says Jim Cramer, the CNBC host and former hedge fund manager who also happens to be Cote's next-door neighbor in tony Summit, N.J. "This is one of the great CEOs of our time, yet he's stayed below the radar."