The highest proof of virtue is to possess
boundless power without abusing it.
Thomas MaCaulay
Imperialistic CEOs of public corporations, having already been pre-chosen usually by outgoing CEOs, are hand-stamped by their boards. CEOs of large corporations have boundless power. It can be a heady power, and "if you're not careful, you'll be seduced," said a former CEO in an interview.[1] That observation was made over 20 years ago but is no less valid today.
What makes CEO power deadly dangerous is the CEO being in the deadliest industries, most particularly of course the "defense" industry, and the CEO's psychological makeup, to wit: moral frailty; materialistic; ambitious/greedy; narcissistic, and, if that isn't enough to make the CEO rob America, add his (almost always male) being narrowly educated (meaning steeped in financial management).
But wait just a minute. There would be no CEO at the top of a lowerarchy. First, the top would be glued to the bottom, not separated by value-subtracting layers. Second, the lowerarchy would not be leaderless, but the leadership would be starkly different and better. The leadership would be a team made up of rotating members of self-managed teams; more on that point in the last article. Sound unrealistic? Maybe in a public corporation, but not in a private lowerarchy.
In Closing
We are picking up speed for the moment. This article is shorter than the first two. The fourth and fifth on corporate culture and corporate-performance management may be a bit longer, and the sixth on corporate reform will probably be the longest.
[1] Byrne, JA., Symonds, WC., & Siler, JF. (1991). CEO Disease: Egotism Can Breed Corporate Disaster. Business Week, (cover story), 52-60.
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