Thursday, June 3, 2010

Thoughts on CEOs

Organizations sometimes have the feel as if their only motivation and the only reason for their existence is for the sake of profit. Some organizations have gone through unethical and even illegal means simply for the sake of profit. John Mackey of Whole Foods who was nominated for CEO of the year is one CEO who has remembered that organizations are beholden to multiple stakeholders and doing nothing for the other stakeholders simply in the pursuit of profit can put their teams on risk.
Currently the American marketplace is set against companies who have a reputation of being greedy. Whole Foods under Mr. Mackey has taken great strides to ensure that his organization does not have that reputation as they have taken the unusual step of capping executive pay. They have taken the rare step of ensuring strategic renewal in a down economy while not laying off a single employee. Mackey has appreciated that creating a state of congruence where the company has a positive reputation with the public can help the company beat a down period. Mackey’s policy of making sure the employees have health benefits can only increase his view in the eyes of his employees especially at a time when many companies are cutting the health benefits of their employees.
Being a successful CEO is not exactly an exact science. Going to school and having the highest level of education does not ensure competence as a CEO, as some CEOs with the best education have failed miserably and other CEOs such as John Mackey never finished college and have been extremely successful. Leadership takes the ability to properly diagnose the organization and lead the organization to the best of its abilities. John Mackey has done this with Whole Foods and become one of the best CEOs in the nation.

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