Every month, Mukunda organizes a dinner for interesting minds in the area, bringing together people from different walks of life who wouldn’t ordinarily meet. He invited Mayo and a small group of others to a tour of a new exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art and dinner at Del Frisco’s. At dinner, Mayo sat between William Forsythe, a renowned ballet choreographer, and Rodney Zemmel, the leader of McKinsey & Company’s digital division.
“And he could talk to both of them on even terms,” Mukunda said. “That’s part of the magic of Jerod.”
As part of his research, Mukunda has studied the qualities that make for the best leaders, writing two books on leadership selection. If he were picking a coach for a football team?
It’s something, Mukunda said, that most owners don’t consider, “a market inefficiency of stunning scale in the NFL.” And it’s a trait that Mayo personifies.
“If you get a chance to pick someone like Jerod, you pick them,” Mukunda said. “I don’t know if it’s with the Patriots or some other team, but Jerod will be a head coach in the NFL one day.