Budget Cuts. Layoffs. Shrinking Revenues. When tough times hit, many executives have a hard time singing the praises of their companies' greatness. J. Barry Griswell, the retired CEO and former COB of the $11 billion Principal Financial Group, says adversity provides executives, as well as their employees, with an opportunity to make positive adjustments and then some. In fact, Griswell, along with Bob Jennings, has written a book called, The Adversity Paradox: An Unconventional Guide to Achieving Uncommon Business Success.

The personal adversity Griswell experienced growing up became the underpinning for much of his success as both a corporate leader and a humanitarian leader. While he was CEO of Principal, which offers 401(k) and retirement plans to businesses, he oversaw a $1.8 billion initial public offering (IPO), which helped the company's expand its product line. As of 2008, the company had $308 billion in assets under management and 19 million customers. Griswell serves of the boards of Herman Miller and Principal. Throughout his career, he has been active in various industry and community organizations. He has received many public service awards, such as the Horatio Alger Association Distinguished American Award and the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award.

Enterpriseleadership.org recently sat down with Griswell to get his perspective on successful leadership, especially the role of a CIO. Here is what he had to say:

EL. Usually consultants and academics write books about effective corporate leadership. Why did you, as the former CEO of a major company, decide to write a leadership book focusing on adversity?

BG. If you want to have a successful book, you should write about something you care about and something that has touched you. I came from a tough background, riddled with much adversity. When I got into management and started recruiting people, I learned success, particularly for sales people, included learning from exposure to adversity. If you can overcome adversity, then you have a greater chance of being successful. You can learn the lessons of life -- tenacity, persistence, and optimism. I got so interested in this.

In 2003 when I got the Horatio Alger Award, I couldn't believe I was joining other award recipients, such as Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, and Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. Each one had overcome some type of adversity, learned from it, and then went on to achieve great success. Bob Jennings, my co-author, and I decided we wanted to study adversity and see what makes it happens. Of the 100 resumes we reviewed, we selected a number of top people to interview. Our goal was to come away with a number of lessons we could pass on to our readers about how to overcome adversity.

EL. Some management reports say that CEOs average about four years in a position. Some CEOs have gotten themselves in trouble. Where do some CEOs go wrong?

BG. Some CEOs forget where they came from and just look at where they want to go. A chapter in my book talks about what matters most on the job --integrity and moral development. Some people just do not have well- developed morals. These characteristics take years for people to develop. You need to make sure they are foundational and real. Some people who get to leadership levels lack moral development. It becomes apparent as time goes on. It is unfortunate. Letting power go to their head causes many people to get off track. They think they are invincible. Some CEOs think because they occupy the top spot in the company, they cannot do anything wrong. Not true! The CEOs I have seen fall possessed many of the negative qualities I have mentioned.

EL. How did you give back to the community so you just were not just a corporate person?

BG. Being on a corporate board is self-serving. People of means should give back their time and their energy, and their financial resources. They need to lead in that area. I have tried to do that. You need to do things to help your community and the people in need. That's how you can make a difference.

I have been extraordinarily involved in a number of things. Today, I still serve on the board of the United Way of America. I run our local campaign. I support the Boys and Girls Club, both locally and nationally. I am trying to help the people of the Crow Creek Native American Indian Reservation get back on their feet. I provide significant financial support to my alma mater, which is a local college.

EL. Do you look at that kind of character when you hire executives?

BG. Absolutely! You want to ask people: 'Give me some examples of how you have given back to the community over time.' It is so easy to spot. If someone says, 'I really believe in doing those things, but I'm so busy in my career. I haven't had time yet.' I don't like that answer. We need well-rounded individuals in corporate management. People can find time to give back a little bit of their time and money.

EL. You ran companies that had great financial strength. How did you balance that with philanthropic pursuits?

BG. The Principal exemplifies a company that has tried to balance its financial strength of earning money and returning profits to shareholders, but also doing what is right for employees and the community.  If you got one of these things out of kilter, it ultimately causes you to warble and have problems. For example, United Way named has as one of its

best supporters a couple of years ago. Latina Style named us the best employer for Latinos. Fortune magazine has named us to its 100 Best Places to Work in the United States seven years running. We have many philanthropic awards.

EL. What qualities did you expect your business leaders to possess?

BG. Everyone would probably give you the same list. I always start with honesty, integrity, and then reliability. If you do not think someone is speaking the truth, then that's a red flag citing a potential risk factor. People need good intellect in order to play in the game. We all want to have people who like being on a team. It looks good for the cause. You also want people who have their own ambitions. On the other hand, if their own ambitions outweigh the good of the organization, that you have a problematic situation. You look for some flexibility and some collegiality. Of course, you want them to have a strong passion and drive for what they do. It is a blend of all those.

EL. Because CIOs work with colleagues across multiple business units, they need to work from a position of influence. How did you work with your CIO?

BG. When I was CEO, our CIO reported to me. That person now reports to the current CEO. Every company has its own way of handling the reporting structure for the CIO. We have gone back and forth with this issue. Today, we have a very strong CIO. We expect him to set standards, drive efficiencies, and drive platforms that the business units can use. At the same time, each business unit has its own CIO who is responsible for driving the use of technology within the business unit. You need to have strong central leadership along with some business unit leadership. It's about creating balance. My company has had a skewed IT organization on several occasions. If you let the business units run the show, then you do not get the advantages of the common platforms and efficiencies. Conversely, if you just have the corporate CIO running everything, then you do not get the best use of applications at the local level or business unit level. We have achieved the right blend of IT management.

Because our business relies on technology, the CIO role is important to us. We are the leader in administering 401(k) plans, daily values, and paperless movement of data. We do millions and millions of transactions. We would be swamped if we weren't innovative with our technology. In fact, In 2008 Computerworld recognized us as one of its Premier 100, the top 100 companies with innovative uses of technology

EL. Is there a process you followed to make the right investments, especially in technology?

BG. Like every major corporations, Principal has to quantify the return on investment. When I was CEO, we had a Web-based ROI computation that had many inputs. Each business unit's project management handled large technology projects.

Although corporate uses uniform tools, we also recognized the need for judgment and gut feeling if we in the early stages of dealing with something new. We want to be on the leading edge, not on the bleeding edge.

EL.Does your CIO deal with the board at all?

BG. He does to some extent, but he deals directly with our board's audit committee. He reports regularly on a number or things. He occasionally attends a full board meeting, but he regular attends the audit committee meeting.

EL. What have you learned from your CIO?

BG. He is a very calm, methodical, good thinker who approaches things at a very high level. He has a calming effect on us all. I have enjoyed dabbling in technology. In fact, I have tried to be out front about the technology we deployed. When the Internet became in vogue, I remember our CIO telling board members at a retreat how the Internet would change business. What he said motivated me to take a more hands-on approach to technology.

EL. What important technology investments did you make during your tenure?

BG.  We made numerous technology investments. After I became CEO, we made one of the most massive investments in our company's history. Our joint project with IBM, called Express Processing, was a massive effort to automate all of our systems. We went from 100 percent paper driven, or process driven, or telephone driven to almost 100 percent Web-based processing. The technology also allowed us to establish remote processing offices around the country. As a result, we could enter cases immediately into our system as we received them, and then we could move them instantly to one of those processing centers for adoption. That's was our greatest technology investment.

We also took our basic pension system and we replicated it with a version that had international values. PIIS or the Principal Insurance Information Systems is our standard, global defined-contribution record keeping system. If we go into a new country, we can plug in this adaptable system. We made some changes for language and regulatory purposes.

EL. If you were to look back at your career, what is the one thing you would have done differently?

BG. I don't spend much time looking back. Some of my decisions did not pan out as we expected. A large acquisition we made in Australia turned out to be a bad move. We eventually sold that business. We have stayed in some businesses longer than we should have and have gotten out of some too soon. We have tried to learn from those mistakes. We always do look-back analysis to determine what we did wrong and how we can avoid making the same mistake.

EL. Can you tell me a story about a professional adversity you had to overcome?

BG. In 2001, we were in the process of going from a mutual company to a publicly traded company. We had been working on the IPO for several years. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, we were in our hotel room getting ready hold a briefing about our IPO. Of course, 9ll happened. We stayed in Paris until that Friday. We fly from Paris to Reykjavik, Iceland, where we spent the night. We then took a plane to Winnipeg Canada, where we rented a van to drive to Des Moines. A few miles after we entered the United States, we had a terrible accident with the van. Although we all had some sort of injury, we managed to regroup and make it to Des Moines. On October 23, we became the first company to go public following 911.

EL. Now, can you give me a more personal vignette about what you learned from an adverse situation?

BG. My parents got divorced when I was very young. My father was an alcoholic. During the last part of my MBA program, my father committed suicide. My brother and I had to deal with that horrible situation. Unfortunately, my father died with no life insurance. He left a small business ridden with debt. My brother and I took out loans to help my family move forward. Because of this experience, I decided to pursue a career in life insurance. I did not want to see families go through a situation like mine, if they can avoid it.

Elizabeth M. Ferrarini - She is a free-lance writer and IT consultant from Boston, Massachusetts. Reach her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.