"As an executive with a businesslike persona," Mr. Johnson said of Mr. Romney, "he is much more comfortable being on the attack.
On a recent Tuesday morning in the General Motors Technical Center, which was designed by Eero Saarinen, a couple of car executives huddled around a "persona board" in the color and trim laboratory.
"You can steal a car with an alarm system, but you go after the one without the alarm," said Fabio Righi, Digital Persona's chief executive.
He also walked away with major pet accolades including two "Patsy" awards in 1951 and 1961 but, alas, like all divas he did have another off-screen persona; one studio executive called him the "world's meanest cat".
Ellison, like his late friend Steve Jobs of Apple, is one of those chief executives whose larger-than-life persona is inextricably linked to that of his company.
The one constant in the ever-fluctuating world of television is the persona of the network executive.
To avoid this, women in high executive office often assume a corporate persona that overcompensates by being either brittle and defensive, or Thatcher-esque in terms of belligerence.
The company has grown rapidly, but its ability to sustain that growth, the ways it measures growth and the eccentric public persona of its chief executive have come under fire at times.
"Sheryl is persona non grata at Google," an executive there says, adding, "She steals executives".
"Sheryl is persona non grata at Google," an executive there says, adding, "She steals executives". It's one thing to recruit scarce engineers, a senior Google official says.
