2 ms·

There is a competitive market for talent. The board is going to try to hire the best person they can. That person typically has lots of options.

• ska 7y ago
  While there is truth in the existence of that competition, it is also a fundamental mistake to believe this market is basically a meritocracy. C-suite execs have something common with politicians that way. To wit, some of them get to the top by being very good at the things they do and having generally respected talent... but another path is to be good at campaigning.
  • perl4ever 7y ago
    Leaders are leaders. You can't trust anyone with power if they want power, but you have to give someone power. The contradictory demands make people make weird decisions, because trustworthy people seem infinitely scarce. Money is a diversion from destructive uses of power, besides being a response to apparent lack of supply.
    • vincent-toups 7y ago
      You don't have to give someone power - you can have cooperatives or other forms of democratic management.
  • freyr 7y ago
    It's a meritocracy in the sense that boards want to hire executives with prior experience running large companies or large divisions. How many such people are available for hire and didn't run their last company into the ground? It's a tiny number. On the other hand, I worked for a president who was brought in to run a brand new division, ran it into the ground within a few years, was forced out of the company under rumors of financial improprieties, and was recently announced as CEO of another company. So, who knows? Maybe boards are just stupid.