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>“what other industry is there where the top decision-makers have never done the basic work of the company?” Not to belabour a point sibling comments have alre
by Macross8299 7y ago
>“what other industry is there where the top decision-makers have never done the basic work of the company?”
Not to belabour a point sibling comments have already made but I think it's the other way around, actually. Much more common to have a CEO in tech who has been in the trenches than in other industries.
Compare the likelihood of a tech CEO having some software engineering/programming experience to the likelihood of an oil and gas executive having worked as a roustabout or a welder, or a healthcare industry exec having done rounds as a doctor or nurse.
- exelius 7y agoI would disagree; most tech CEOs are sales & marketing people at their core. Especially once you grow beyond the startup phase. Margins are fat enough in most tech verticals that operational efficiency often takes a back seat to driving the top-line. And once your growth starts to plateau, in comes a bean-counter CEO with a finance background.
- kthejoker2 7y agoDepends on what you mean by "basic work" - most of oil and gas leadership comes from the engineering and geoscience side of the house. Jeff Miller of Halliburton was a field manager. Mike Wirth at Chevron is a chemical engineer and Chevron lifer. Ben can Beurden of Shell is a chemical engineer and a Shell lifer. Clay Williams at NOV is a petroleum in engineer. Bob Dudley at BP is a chemical engineer and a BP lifer. Paal Kibsgaard at Schlumberger is a petroleum engineer. Ryan Lance at ConocoPhillips is a petroleum engineer. I could go on, you get the idea. These CEOs have definitely been in the trenches.