When the Leadership Pool is Polluted

The other day I reviewed the chief executive officers for a large organization, much in the same way a historian might peruse national leaders. What left me perplexed was how the organization had gone from several solid performers to a cluster of - I'll use a gentle term - weasels.

The first of the questionable choices was widely regarded as a compromise choice. The subsequent ones were picked for various reasons, including merit in at least one case, and the choices, to my mind, reflected the following problems:

1. The board did not have a thorough understanding of the qualities of the candidates.
2. At times, the board was willing to bend merit in order to score political points.
3. There had been insufficient development to ensure a wider selection of candidates. Reduce the pool of qualified candidates and a questionable choice may indeed be the best available one.
4. Poor decisions in the past had driven off some potentially strong contenders.

There is another factor that is more troubling and that is the proliferation of a certain type of candidate; individuals whose driving force is naked ambition. Their predecessors, to be sure, were ambitious but they also exemplified service to others and that virtue was foremost.

Encourage raw careerism and you'll eventually pay a price.