Signs Your CEO has Jumped the Shark
CEOs, like football running backs and winners of American Idol, tend toward short careers. In the case of chief execs, it's five years or less in office.
So how do you know when your Top Dog is heading down the back nine of her or his career? In the Times Online, Harvard Business School professor John Quelch lists 10 signs to watch for in How to Spot a Chief Executive Who is Going Off the Rails.
Here are three indications from Quelch that things are not all they should be in the Corner Office:
- "The chief executive builds a mansion, buys a winery, starts a vintage-car collection or, in other ways, flaunts his success, displaying excessive self-confidence and becoming more interested in things other than the business.
- "The chief executive launches his own blog. This usually makes him appear inauthentic rather than cool. And a blog is no substitute for doing face-to-face meetings with the troops. Even worse: the chief blogs under a pseudonym to boost his company's share price at the expense of competitors.
- "The chief executive is collecting awards for community service from the local Rotary Club and the industry trade association. This usually means he believes his contributions have already been made and his career has peaked or, even worse, his peers believe this to be the case."