T.J. Grewal got a taste of what working on strategic direction would be like at Brocade Communications Systems Inc. well before he was hired to lead their corp dev operation four years ago. As a McKinsey & Co. consultant, he ran a team that helped slim down the networking gear maker's operations, free up cash to invest in new projects, and improve profitability.

He liked what he saw, and so apparently did Brocade, which tapped him in August 2004 as vice president of corporate development.

But even though he is working inside Brocade now -- and heading the company's biggest deals, including the $713 million McData Corp. acquisition and the pending $3 billion deal to acquire Foundry Networks Inc. -- his outsider's perspective is still one of the most useful things he brings to the job. "Sometimes I am the outlier, but that's the point," he says. "It drives an intellectually honest debate around the management table, which should lead us to focus on the right scenarios and the right decisions." - Olaf de Senerpont Domis

• Making a career of corporate development at J&J
• Moving to a line business at Pitney Bowes
• Colonel Tapp and Northrop Grumman's new flight path
• From Shearman & Sterling to the middle of the Bristol-Myers makeover
• PepsiCo to Lehman to Campbell Soup
• Internal networking at ATMI
• Finding a faster ship at Glam Media
  

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