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A.G. Lafley, chief executive of Procter & Gamble Co. and a 1969 graduate of Hamilton, was featured in a Wall Street Journal article (6/1/05) about the consumer products company's successful turnaround under him.

The article said: "Lafley... shared some advice with a group of laundry executives: 'The simple principle in life is to find out what she wants and give it to her. It's worked in my marriage for 35 years and it works in laundry.'

"The group erupted in laughter and Mr. Lafley smiled. But he wasn't really kidding. Hewing to this deceptively straightforward principle has helped the 57-year-old P&G veteran revive the fortunes of the maker of Pampers, Pantene and Tide. Five years ago, when Mr. Lafley took over the world's largest consumer-products company, it was floundering amid a botched attempt to overhaul its insular culture.

"The attention to what women want reflects a philosophical shift Mr. Lafley is urging: to look outside the company for solutions to problems, instead of insisting P&G knows best. Mr. Lafley has succeeded where his predecessors failed by being an insider, but making the changes of an outsider. He has eliminated more jobs than any CEO in the company's 168-year history and inked its largest-ever deals, including the recent $55 billion purchase of Gillette Co."

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