Vertiv Chief Executive David Cote said he found "warring cultures" when he first arrived at Honeywell. Cote, who published a book on corporate leadership "Winning Now, Winning Later: How Companies Can Succeed in the Short Term While Investing for the Long Term," said he felt that he couldn't trust the board or the staff -- three of whom, he said, had interviewed or expressed interest for his job. Ultimately, he said speaking at an Economic Club of New York event Thursday, he found the best way to build morale was to have a successful company, giving workers bragging rights and pride in their work, and to tie compensation to 12 behaviors. "We kind of joked that God only needed 10 commandments to fix the world, but we needed 12 to fix Honeywell," Cote said, adding that they strayed from any compensation formula because "at the end of the day, fairness matters." (maria.armental@wsj.com; @mjarmetal)