When Warren Buffett was asked why the Gillette board of directors chose Jim Kilts to be CEO, he said, "Jim made as much sense in terms of talking about business as anybody I've ever talked to. If you listen to Jim analyze a business situation you get absolutely no baloney. And, frankly, finding someone like that is a rarity."

There is only one CEO in recent times who has faced--and succeeded at--the extraordinary challenges of leading three major companies--Gillette, Nabisco, and Kraft--into prosperous futures by doing what matters on the fundamentals.

That CEO is Jim Kilts. In this...