06 February 2010

BP ~ Life Beyond Purgatory for Lord Browne...

While I'm neither of his industry nor of his proclivities, I think very interesting the story of Lord Browne, the ex-CEO of BP -- an entity variously thought of as British Petroleum and Beyond Petrol. I especially loathe how he was caught up in societal bullshit bigger than him -- mostly because just about anyone could have similarly been screwed given their own respective and reasonable morals and fears about the requisite legalities and "ethics". The Times shares his story, 'I'm much happier now than I’ve ever been'...
"...in interviews, he would encourage journalists to believe the myth that he was a hopeful bachelor just waiting for the right woman to come along, telling The Sunday Times, when pressed, “Whether I get married remains to be seen. Maybe this interview is an advertisement.” Asked outright by the Financial Times whether he was gay, he replied: “You have got the wrong man there.” Was he ever tempted to marry just to keep up a front? “I love the company of women but I could never bring myself to… That would be extreme. I mean, I was doing a lot of dissembling but that’s beyond it, I think, because there are only two people in a room in a relationship. Again, I never thought it would be possible.” But you do know people who have done that? “I know lots of people who have done that, now.” Occasionally, Browne’s two worlds would collide. “It was very rare and, of course, it wasn’t just me who had behaved like that, it was the other person as well.” He remembers being startled to see another gay man, whom he recognised from a secret sexual encounter, at an industry event in Aberdeen. “But there was a code of conduct… People behaved in a certain way, and you relied on that behaviour of discretion. This is all so incredible to believe, really."
Well, I personally hope we can move beyond stupid and irrational persecution of personal beliefs and proclivities. He details more in Beyond Business as extracted in The Times. I rather admire his devotion to his mother, his discipline, and his strategic sophistication in acquiring Amoco, generalizing the energy & power business, and connecting with MIT for the Academies series of professional developments. And in the future world I hope to build, the minor indiscretions Lord Browne was caught up in would be just that -- minor -- and irrelevant!

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