Carla Cico: CEO and president of Brasil Telecom

Disgusted by the get-rich-quick mentality, she's building a company of distance runners

Carla Cico, 41, the Italian-born CEO of Brasil Telecom (BT), ran in her first New York City Marathon in November. So did seven other BT employees--products of Cico's new company-wide fitness program. "It promotes discipline, preparation, focus, team culture," Cico explains. "We want to avoid the mind-set of the '90s, when so many telecoms went only for short-term results."

Since taking the reins at BT in February 2001, Cico has championed a long-term growth strategy. But she is also leading what she calls a cultural revolution, which has cut costs and boosted efficiency and which last year galvanized BT's 5,800 employees...

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