Nick Buckles, the chief executive of G4S, has described his leadership style as "no excuses, please".
The man who has been in charge of the FTSE 100 firm since 2005 also said his business hero was Margaret Thatcher and that his first job was as a Christmas postman in Essex at the age of 16.
Mr Buckles, who has more than 25 years experience working in security, made the comments in an interview with the New Statesman magazine in April this year, which the firm has republished on its own website.
Asked in the same interview for his advice on what the Government should do to improve the economy, he replied: "To continue to focus on traditional Tory values around encouraging a meritocracy and inspiring value creation."
According to his entry in society bible Debrett's, Nick Buckles Esquire was born on February 1 1961.
He joined security firm Securicor in 1985 as a projects accountant, rising to become chief executive of the company in 2002, according to his G4S company profile.
When it merged with Group 4 Falck in 2004, Mr Buckles was appointed deputy chief executive, moving to become chief executive the following year.
His salary last year was £830,000, according to the firm's 2011 annual report.
The company, based in Crawley, West Sussex, has operations in 125 countries and 657,000 employees. It says it is the world's second largest private sector employer and traces its roots back more than 100 years to a firm started in Denmark.
As well as leading G4S, Mr Buckles is the current chairman of the Ligue Internationale des Sociétés de Surveillance, which describes itself on its website as "an association of private security organisations throughout the free world".
It also says it is "represented in a consultative capacity as a non-governmental organisation at the United Nations and the European Common Market".
Last year Mr Buckles endorsed an official company song, originally made for a marketing campaign, which was released as a single to raise money for charity.
He said that Securing Your World, written and performed by Texans Jon Christopher Davis and Sparky Pearson, was "a simple and fun way for everyone at G4S to be part of something special".
The website for the song, www.G4Srocks.com, is no longer working.
Mr Buckles told Channel 4 News that his total pay, including salary and other extras like bonuses, was £1.2 million, telling the broadcaster he was worth it "99% per cent of the time".
Asked whether he would get a bonus this year, he replied: ""It doesn't look like it, does it."