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When Greg Saunders tells us that \u201chaving patience\u201d was perhaps the quality that most contributed to his first appointment as a CFO back in the early 1990s, we wonder how many additional years a more impatient Saunders (then only 32) may have needed before stepping into the CFO office.

Of course, then again, a railcar leasing and repair business might not have been the first choice of many aspiring Bay Area CFOs, who as a group have for decades preferred to satisfy their C-suite ambitions via the area\u2019s high tech companies.

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\u201cI remember thinking back in the early \u201990s that maybe I should jump into the tech sector, but I stuck it out and I\u2019m glad that I did,\u201d reports Saunders, who 5 months after joining Transcisco Industries as a corporate development executive was helping the company to manage through a bankruptcy.

\u201cI was suddenly involved in everything\u2014the attrition at the company was crazy, and I was able to take on more responsibility,\u201d recalls Saunders, who notes that Transcisco\u2019s rapid downturn of fortune had occurred when a much celebrated luxury passenger train project collapsed due in part to the firm\u2019s limited capital resources.

\u201cBecause of all of the attrition across the company, I was able to take on more and more roles, and guess what? I became a young CFO of a publicly traded company,\u201d comments Saunders, before once more crediting his \u201cpatience\u201d with helping him to nurture a mind-set that encouraged \u201csticking around\u201d and finding solutions. \xa0

Along the way, Saunders says, he became tasked with fighting off a hostile takeover and ultimately negotiating a successful merger, which he credits with helping the company\u2019s stock price to jump up to $6 per share\u2014after trading at as low as 12 cents.

Says Saunders \u201cFor me, it was just a great experience for many different reasons, including learning the rewards of sticking things out.\u201d\xa0\u2013Jack Sweeney