Leonard A. Schlesinger became the 12th president of Babson College on July 1, 2008. He came
to Babson from Limited Brands, where he served in executive positions from 1999-2007, most
recently as vice chairman and chief operating officer. From 1985-1988, President Schlesinger
was executive vice president and chief operating officer at Au Bon Pain. His academic career
includes 20 years at Harvard Business School where he served as the George Fisher Baker Jr.
Professor of Business Administration, leading MBA and executive education programs. He also
was architect and chair of Harvard Business School’s MBA Essential Skills and Foundations
programs. President Schlesinger is well known for his pioneering research and publications
on the “Service Profit Chain.” He is the author or co-author of ten books and has written more
than 40 articles for academic audiences as well as for The New York Times, Fast Company, and
Harvard Business Review. President Schlesinger currently serves as a member of the board of
directors of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a board member of the BJ’s
Wholesale Club, Inc., a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Clean Energy
Center, a member of the corporation of the Winsor School, serves on the Board of Managers
for StriVectin Holdings, LLC, and is a member of the President’s Council of the Franklin W.
Olin College of Engineering. He also serves as an Advisory Council Member of The 10,000
Small Businesses Initiative, as well as a member of the Council on Competitiveness. President
Schlesinger earned a Doctor of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, an
MBA from Columbia University, and a BA in American Civilization from Brown University.When should a growing company start diverting a percentage of profits to the founders instead of reinvesting every cent back into the business to grow it?
This is a very complex question--one that really is a function of the ideology and objectives of the founders. There is no hard and fast rule. It is, however, important to recognize that decisions that are made in the short term will most definitely have a material impact on the potential future funders.
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