• Forbes, Wednesday, December 23, 2009 10:35 AM

If you liked A.G. Lafley's leadership of Proctor & Gamble, you're probably going to love Bob McDonald's, if the arguments mustered by Hal Gregersen, a professor of leadership at the international business school Insead, hold up. Their professional backgrounds are very similar and McDonald appears to pay even more attention to detail than the delivery-driven Lafley did.

Just as importantly, McDonald shares Lafley's interest in innovation. Gregerson cites the way that McDonald would immerse himself in the culture of countries he was assigned to over the years. "Not only did he devour books on each new country, but he was just as likely to learn by experience -- for example, taking canoe rides in the Philippines to observe and visit with villagers about soap and detergent use."

As Lafely did, Gregerson suspects that McDonald will devote significant effort to directly observing consumer behavior -- a behavior that will be emulated by the troops. And like innovative leaders everywhere, he will "constantly question the status quo, deeply observe the world like full-time anthropologists, regularly network for new ideas ... and frequently explore the world with an experimental mindset, always trying new things and doing things differently."

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