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ED MARRA
Former CEO
Nestlé Canada
To understand the extent of Ed Marra 's drive, one only had to look at the mantra he used to include with his e-mail signature: "Passion to win."
"This means you've got to have passion, you've got to love what you're doing, and you've got to love it every day. Winning is being number one; number two is unacceptable," says Bob Leonidas, president and CEO, Nestlé Canada. "And that's what guided him."
Indeed, it was with that passion that in 2000 Marra helped turn Nestlé Canada "into a much more marketing-driven organization as opposed to one just financially driven," says Serge Rancourt, president and COO of Publicis Canada. In fact, Marra literally changed the corporate culture overnight. Rancourt recalls visiting the Nestlé Canada offices and seeing sales results posted by day inside the elevator walls. "He basically brought a fire to the company and put a vision to it-with that vision being the pride of succeeding and doing well."
Marra earned...