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Forever
Changed--the
Post '08
Meltdown
Corporate Executive
(Continued from the Home Page)
The Old Myths and the
New Truths about
Corporate Leadership
Myth Number One:
The
CEO
only has responsibility to the stockholders.
Employees,
customers and the
general public
are
 on a "valuable-if -they-don't-get-in front-of-
profit" basis.
The truth is
it's obvious that the
stockholder must get a
good return on the
investment or nobody
will invest in the
company. However, in order for the company to be successful in the long run,
the CEO must keep faith with product quality, employees, and customers and
vendors.
The CEO is responsible
to the general public,
even those who are not
investors. They
must not endanger the economy.
CEOs must guide
corporations to be good citizens
as well as stewards of
the environment.
Myth Number Two:
CEOs
are priceless--everyone
else is expendable.
When management
sees that the
corporation can make
more money with fewer
employees--even when
there is not an economic
crisis--the employee
must cheerfully
cooperate in the process
of getting rid of his or
her job.
The truth is
CEOs must trim
fat and incompetence and
organizations will
always need to reduce
their numbers in given
circumstances. Yet
popular corporate
culture has endorsed
highly acclaimed CEOs
gaining bonus after
bonus as they laid off
hundreds of thousands,
treating them like
overstocked items to be
sold on eBay.
Successful organizations
that sustain their success
over time preserve and
protect their people.
Myth Number Three:
 When your job is
shipped overseas or you
are replaced by
technology, you'll be
successful in finding
new "next generation"
jobs that will pay
better. The
truth is
traditional jobs have
always gone away, from
the buggy whip maker to
the TV repairman.
But today's reality is
that with global
outsourcing and
advancing technology,
the number of so-called
"next generation jobs"
do not make up for those
that are lost.
Jobs in medical care and
technology can become
obsolete so quickly that
often a person needs a
series of "next
generation jobs."
What is happening
instead of next
generation jobs are
professionals who cobble
together a living with
disparate non-related
part time jobs or what
is now being described
as the "gig career."
These are short projects
in organizations or
"gigs." Some experts
see the gradual
dismantling of the
fulltime job and its
replacement by people doing gigs.
Myth Number Four:
Self employment is a
good general alternative
to employment in
organizations.
The truth is
about 25% of the present
workforce is
self-employed.
However, only a small
percentage of the workforce
is technically,
mentally, and
emotionally adaptable to
self-employment.
Self-employment is
simply not an option for
most
employees--suggesting
otherwise is either
naive, disingenuous--or
even deceitful.
Myth Number Five:
For Americans, fewer job opportunities
for fewer employers is
inevitable.
The truth is
we can fix our economy.
From 1929 to 1932 there
was a complete breakdown
of the American economy.
Many reasons are given
for this breakdown and
the difficulty of moving
forward. The
fundamental problem was
that the country
couldn't bring
conflicting interests
together in a plan to
move forward.
Today our systems have
broken down because
people must
fundamentally learn to care about
each other again and
work for each other's
interests.
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GE CEO of the
1980s
The Face of
Today's CEO?
Jack Welch
Launched a
Business
Revolution in
the 1980s--Why
His Type of CEO
May Not Be the
Face of the
Business
Revolution of
Today
Jack Welch came
against
entrenched
bureaucracy in
the GE of the
1980s.
His practical
management style
empowered people
and withered
complicated,
useless
processes.
The management
of the 90s,
however, saw
workers an an
expedient,
throw-away
commodity.
Stock prices
rose after a
good hefty
layoff.
Today's
workforce is
scared,
scattered,
disoriented and
often untrained.
The CEO who is
the face of
today will need
to restore
confidence in
corporations--that
includes
employees as
primary
customers of the
organization.
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