A man who asks for questions before he makes a speech instead of at the end is obviously wide open to new ways of doing business.

Don Winkler, Chairman and CEO of the fast-growing Finance One Corporation, a $28 billion dollar subsidiary of Banc One Corporation, is well known for statements like, "The dumber the question - the more people laugh at you - the more likely it will lead to breakthroughs."

Winkler's off-the-wall approach - and it's a very successful one - is the result of a lifetime's battle against dyslexia, a disability that means he cannot form mental images naturally.

However, the handicap did not prevent him from attaining a reading speed of 600-800 words a minute, earning a degree in electronic engineering and cutting out a successful career in electronics before transferring his talents to the financial services industry.

His knack of finding novel solutions to problems is nowhere better illustrated than the time he was running a Citibank business in Italy and a new tax law threatened to create a run on the banks. Instead of hoarding Citibank's cash reserves he emptied the vaults and stacked the money on tellers' desks in plain view of the customers. Confidence in Citibank soared and the bank won new deposits from its rivals as a result.

Dyslexia, or rather the methods he uses to combat it, also made Winkler naturally receptive to the corporate culture ideas of Senn-Delaney Leadership.

After five years with Finance One - a business with nearly 6,000 employees and major operations in Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana and Phoenix, Arizona - Winkler has turned a once sleepy and underperforming business into one of America's largest and most profitable finance companies.

"My colleagues and I knew that we had to change the way Finance One was run," Winkler said. "We had grown to a $28 billion business and we couldn't go on running it as though it was still a $300 million company.

"I became involved with Senn-Delaney Leadership through a very good friend and colleague, Ken Stevens, the chairman of Banc One Retail Group.

"He came to Banc One from Taco Bell where he had had experience of the Senn-Delaney Leadership culture change process and had introduced it to Banc One Retail and had some really good results.

"He said to me, 'Don, if you want to make this organisational change let me tell you to take a look at this approach'.

Credibility

"And because of Ken's credibility we did - almost sight unseen. It has been one of the best things that ever happened to us at Finance One."

The Senn-Delaney Leadership process began with a three-day off-site meeting of senior executives to define the path they wished the business to take and to set down the core values needed to achieve their corporate goals.

That process was key in building unity across Finance One, which includes a range of consumer lending, mortgage, indirect auto finance and commercial equipment leasing businesses derived from regional banks acquired by Banc One.

"I came away from the off-site in Florida seeing myself through the eyes of the people who work with me," said Winkler. "The process really helps you to understand how you can become more powerful - or less powerless - and to be accountable to your people and to yourself.

"It also brought it home to us that different people act in different manners - some are controlling, some are supportive etc. It was no surprise to find out that most of our leadership team was perceived to be more controlling and dominating than we wanted to be."

As culture change has been cascaded down through the management levels, Finance One has begun to change 'tremendously'.

"For example: We have a new management structure that enables us to have just 12 meetings a year instead of the 25 we were holding previously," Winkler said.

"The Blue Chip has become a powerful tool in Finance One. Some people will try to bait you into a conversation when you are concentrating on something else. When that happens you pull out the Blue Chip and say "we're not going to talk about that right now, we'll talk about it later".

"From the point of view of our customers, the main difference they now see when dealing with Finance One is far greater accountability at all levels of the business. There is no question about it: accountability to, and appreciation of, your customers keeps you going.

"What have I gained from the Senn-Delaney Leadership process personally? What I try to do is to be more engaging, to try to listen more than I did before.

"If I get off base I know I can rely on the guys around me to bring out the Blue Chips and keep me going in the right direction.

"There is no question that dealing with my dyslexia - you never overcome it - has made me more receptive and open to new ideas. My life has been one long set of upgrades. Because of dyslexia I have to work faster, harder or smarter than other people, so I naturally look for different ways of upgrading the situation."