Michael Bennett, 56, doesn’t fit the mold of a technology chief. The Duke University graduate passed up the opportunity to try out for the National Football League to go to law school. He has an extensive art collection. He’s a stutterer. And he will tell you that he answers to his employees, not the other way around. Bennett — who has three children — said he is enjoying his role as chief information officer, where he gets to “touch every part of the business.”

What is the biggest challenge facing minority business leaders today? The biggest challenge is getting comfortable in the very intense corporate environment, which is oftentimes not particularly welcoming to people of color. Often, in a meeting or boardroom, you need to establish yourself in that role, without being a knucklehead.

What’s the worst business advice you’ve ever gotten? I had someone say, “As long as your boss likes you, nothing else matters.” But that’s just not true. It took seven months to decide to leave Northrop Grumman and come to BAE. I said to the former CEO, Mark Ronald, “If I come here, I don’t work for you. You work for me. Are you ready for that?” He said, “If you felt any other way, I wouldn’t want you.” You need to understand what your boss wants, but at the end of the day you work for the people in the organization. If you do that well, the people you work for will do what’s required to get the work done.

What makes you excited to go to work? I touch every part of the business. The vast majority of things people do depend on things I provide. That’s exciting to me.

What’s something not many people know about you? I’m an art buff. I don’t have van Goghs, but the pieces in my home are like my friends — they speak to me in different ways. I have one piece in my bedroom, a Buddha from Tibet, that is calming. I’ve got pictures of old African-American men that represent wisdom in my dressing room. I like having those guys around me.