4. Paul Charron

Paul Charron has proven that enduring principles transcend culture or environment, and he traces the core of the beliefs he has carried through a varied and successful business career to his early years with Procter & Gamble (P&G). The company “is a central contributor to any success I have had,” says the Vietnam vet whose appointment to the helm at struggling fashion house Liz Claiborne, in 1994, surprised many who doubted a newcomer to the industry had what it would take to turn things around. But when he retired in 2006, having led the company through an extended season of sustained growth in sales, profit, and stock price, he had long silenced any naysayers. Although he had to learn the fashion world, it was only so that he could bette....