Elusive quarry. This phrase inspires dreams of big game in Africa, not a CEO in suburban Chicago. In the months that Greg Burns followed Sara Lee’s Brenda Barnes, he might have had better luck tracking down an endangered species a continent away than catching up with her.
As you can see from the cover photograph gracing this week’s Magazine, Greg eventually succeeded in snaring her. It wasn’t that she had anything to hide, or that she didn’t wish to talk. She simply preferred to be out of the camera’s gaze–and the reporter’s notebook.
But who can say no to Greg Burns? After years of covering the food industry from the Chicago Sun-Times, BusinessWeek, and then the Chicago Tribune, Greg knew the business. He also knew the peculiar world of CEOs, after spending much of the last year covering, with distinction, the Enron trial.
Greg first saw Barnes in action at a Chicago Network lunch last spring. He spoke to many of her friends and associates, and she finally relented and invited him for lunch in her suburban office.
Against the fascinating backdrop of corporate angst at Sara Lee, Barnes symbolizes women who are succeeding in business even as they regear their careers to accommodate their families. But as interested as she might be in creating an equitable workplace, fair to the needs of all, Barnes resists being a poster child for any cause, especially anything that might be seen as self-promotion.
“This is not something I enjoy doing,” she told Greg. “If you could write the article and never mention me, I’d be happier.”
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etaylor@tribune.com
Home on the Range will be back on the range soon.
