He brought with him a philosophy of leadership that would shape his career and his tenure as CEO of Henry Schein, which ended earlier this month after 36 years at the helm.

(Fred Lowery became CEO on March 2, with Bergman staying on as chairman.) Bergman took it from a regional dental supplier with $225 million in revenue to a $13.2 billion-a-year global distributor of dental and medical supplies that’s No.

333 on the Fortune 500 list.

He credits that growth not only to acquisitions and innovation but also to the values of social impact and philanthropy.

What drew him to join the Long Island, N.Y., company as CFO in 1980 was seeing how the founders treated their workers.

“They had a belief in aligning business with social values,” he says of the Schein family, who’d launched the company in 1932.

“It started with Henry.

He’d gone to Florida and brought back Smucker’s jelly for everyone in the company.

There were about 150 people.

At Christmas, everybody would get a case of wine, and at Thanksgiving, they’d get a turkey.

His wife, Esther, did the books.

They’d work shoulder to shoulder with their people, and they did a lot in philanthropy.” Henry’s son Jay Schein, who took over as CEO in 1980, built on that ethos in visible and sometimes costly ways.

When the HIV/AIDS crisis was taking hold in the 1980s, Jay directed the company to publish an infection control handbook for dentists.

Staff arrived at the 1986 American Dental Association convention with the message “Sterilize as if your life depends on it” and were asked to leave.

“They accused us of hype,” says Bergman.

A few years later, dentist David Acer was accused of infecting several patients by disregarding safety protocols as he developed AIDS.

Henry Schein was right.

And sales went up.

The company Henry Schein joined the Fortune 500 in 2004, debuting at No.

It has appeared on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 21 consecutive years.

As Bergman steps away from the CEO role, he reflected on some lessons: Choose character qualities over credentials.

As a rookie CEO, Bergman got advice from a mentor at Abbott while putting together a team.

“He said, ‘Who’s your best people person?’ I said, ‘Jimmy the accountant, but he knows nothing about the dental business.’ His response: ‘He’ll learn.

He’ll put a team together,’” says Bergman.

His deal lawyer became head of strategy; a warehouse manager became head of HR.

Bergman hired for values and soft skills, knowing they could build domain knowledge on the job.

“It’s all about the teamwork.” In times of rapid change, domain expertise can become outdated in a way that character and an ability to learn does not.

Diversify and delegate.

“I always surrounded myself with people who have different opinions.

Our CFO is the most conservative person.

Our head of strategy is....