Ungraceful Wagoner
The question raised is a good one but Wagoner is not the one to provoke the question. He has had almost a decade to demonstrate his competence and has failed. Indeed, as I argued in this column some weeks ago, his taking a private jet to beg for money was itself ample grounds for termination. A chief cause of a problem is almost never the solution. The only time to keep the current head is when one can demonstrate that he/she does not bear significant responsibility for the current situation (e.g. Liddy at AIG) and there is no one of comparable skills available. Since, as de Gaulle reminded us, the cemetery is filled with irreplaceable human beings, it is only rarely the case that the leader under siege needs to remain in place. If Wagoner had any grace, he would have resigned months or even years ago. But so many of current leaders-- political as well as business- live in bubbles that have little relationship to the reality of most persons, and indeed of most American citizens.
By
Howard Gardner
|
March 30, 2009; 5:43 PM ET
Category:
Economic crisis
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Posted by: taid | March 31, 2009 6:19 AM
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I couldn't agree with you more. I left Corporate America years ago due tog failed leaders remaining in jobs they should have been fired from. It was bizarre. Over and over again I witnessed this lack of courage on the part of companies to take any kind of productive action. Well, the Wall Street crew is next!!
Posted by: coralchemy | March 30, 2009 11:33 PM
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The President means business about these incompetent and overpaid CEO's. Now we need a few more to go. And also carry this over to Wall Street, education, health care, etc.