He heads a major financial institution, and he leads one of President Bush's most important advisory committees, but Joe Grano still answers his own phone.

As chairman and president of UBS PaineWebber Inc., Grano has power and influence, but he hasn't lost his sense of being a regular Joe. "He's one of the most unique guys in the business world," says Bob Silver, president of UBS PaineWebber Services, which oversees the company's tech operations. "What I admire most about Joe is his respect for people regardless of their station in life--whether it's the mail-room guy or the CEO of a multinational, he'll treat them the same way."

ON PAST EXPERIENCE: Grano served as an officer in the Green Berets during the Vietnam War

Silver should know. He has worked with Grano since 1985 when they were at Merrill Lynch. Grano's calm style has served him well in crises, such as after Sept. 11, 2001, when the financial markets were closed for a week. It also helped get him picked to chair President Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council, which guides development of the Department of Homeland Security. That was an appointment he couldn't refuse. "I've learned that you can't say no to the president," he says.

Grano ran into "anxiety and anger" on the council because it took so long to get the department established. "Now that it's passed, the most important issue facing us is the ability to amalgamate and come up with best practices to help Tom Ridge get this done."

Grano is devoted to the financial-services industry. One of the lessons that has stayed with him since Sept. 11 is that disaster recovery isn't the same as business continuity. Disaster recovery entails having a hot site and data backup, he says, but business continuity needs to be addressed more broadly. His strategy for both, which includes spending an additional $30 million, is to ensure that UBS has plans for extra sites and parallel processes.

Grano also set up an innovative monitoring system that reviews trading activity in UBS branch offices to ensure regulatory compliance. UBS is willing to share information on the monitoring system with any company that wants to use it, Grano says. "And if anybody wanted to know what we're doing for disaster recovery, we'd tell them. A stronger Wall Street is better for everybody."
--Eileen Colkin Cuneo