How Do We Really Work?

The following came from a letter to the editors at Fortune:

How I (Over)Work?

AS THE FORMER HEAD of a $600 million company, I feel compelled to comment on "How I Work" (March 20), on the habits of highly effective executives. In my experience, if a chief executive needs to rise at 4 A.M. and toil through 20-hour workdays, he may need to address several potential problems:

•He is highly inefficient and wastes a significant amount of what could be productive time spent managing the business. •He has not done a solid job of surrounding himself with a world-class management team he can delegate to. •He has virtually no interests (family or otherwise) outside his job.

Bottom line, American executives need to learn to work smarter, not harder. Instead of glorifying people who sacrifice their family, friends, and virtually all outside interests in pursuit of their career, FORTUNE should profile a highly effective CEO who can manage a $1 billion company and still find time to attend a school concert.

PETER SMITH Former Managing Director, Starkist Baden, Pa.

Needless to say, Mr. Smith gets it!  Are some of you shocked or encouraged?  Give me your thoughts…