AG Lafley: A giant winner in the battle of consumer brands

AG Lafley may be a bit more laid back than the average corporate boss, but that doesn't mean that he's not a man of vision.

The Independent profiles a day in the life of the Procter & Gamble chairman and CEO as he addresses the Newspaper Association of America in Washington, DC, jets to Boston to discuss brands with Gillette, promotes his new book to Harvard Management, and attends a Harvard University recruitment event.

Lafley shocked industry analysts with his $54 billion takeover of Gillette in 2005, a move of such grand scale that many worried that both companies would be destabilized.

With the takeover now considered a positive boost to P&G's growth, Lafley has channeled his new-found profile into a new book about innovation called The Game Changer, co-written with management guru Ram Charan.

"We want to partner with innovators outside of the company, from anywhere, from a garage, from a research laboratory, from a university, from our suppliers and customers, even from our competitors, to create new brands and product lines that delight consumers and create revenue and profits," Lafley tells the Independent.  "Last year, for the first time, fully half the new products we brought to market had one or more outside innovation partners, and we think we can continue to increase that."

Read the full article here.