In Praise of Non-workaholics

A Primer on Management Technique

September 2007 By Denny Hatch

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One of the most shadowy, behind-the-scenes characters of recent history was a sixth cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a plain little spinster lady named Margaret (Daisy) Suckley (rhymes with “book-lee”), whose Hudson River mansion is being renovated.

Suckley died in 1991 in her 100th year. For years she maintained she had nothing to add to what had been written about Roosevelt and his presidency. But when her house was cleaned out, a suitcase of letters was found under her bed, and to the astonishment of historians and family members, Suckley and Roosevelt had a long-term and very close relationship. Although the words are veiled in the mists of time, something magical seems to have happened between them—some kind of Monica Lewinsky moment that changed the dynamics of their interaction.

The story is told in an extraordinary book, “CLOSEST COMPANION: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley,” edited and annotated by Geoffrey C. Ward—alas, now out of print. (Amazon.com has one copy available for $98.)

What is interesting is how much light she shed on how Roosevelt relaxed during the 12 years of his presidency. He made for himself a life completely separate from the burdens of office—virtually impossible in this era of e-mail, BlackBerrys and instant satellite communications that can turn a person into a workaholic.

Being a workaholic does not guarantee success.

Some Current Workaholics
In the course of my daily vacuuming of the media for stories of people and events, I came across a number of workaholics—guys who were so consumed with their careers that they virtually had no other life. Among them:

* Frank Perdue, chicken mogul. “In building his poultry business, Perdue was the consummate entrepreneur and workaholic, who would put in 18 hours a day and get by on three or four hours’ sleep,” said the Associated Press obituary writer in April 2005. “He had a cot in his office and often spent the night there, even though his home was 50 yards away.”

* Robert Nardelli, former CEO of The Home Depot and recently appointed CEO of Chrysler. New York Times writers Julie Creswell and Michael Barbaro called him “an obsessive workaholic who rose at 4 a.m., logged 14-hour days and routinely worked through the weekend, splitting his time between Home Depot’s headquarters in Atlanta and shuttling from store-to-store in a chauffeured black Chevy Suburban.”