Frank approach

Tampa businessman and philanthropist Frank Morsani has had a long and distinguished career, from running 30 auto dealerships to a stint as board chairman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

But it was in 1951, when he was a mechanic on the U.S.S. Antietam in the Korean War, when Morsani learned an integral business lesson that would last the next 60 years: The best kinds of leaders pass responsibility to people down the chain, so everyone, with merit, can have a chance to be the expert of their domain.

Morsani, in a new book he co-wrote, “To Be Frank: Building the American Dream in Business and in Life,” writes that the key is to “pass the responsibility to the lowest common denominator.”