A Trio of New Leaders are Reshaping the CEO Position

In the Wall St. Journal article titled, “After the Revolt, Creating a New CEO,” Alan Murray discusses emerging changes in how CEOs lead their organizations. He emphasizes the diminishing power that many companies are giving their executives, in response to the slew of executive firings and scandals that took place in 2005. Jim McNerney, CEO of Boeing Co., Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co., and Martin Sullivan, CEO of American International Group (AIG), each represent this new generation of power in corporate America, which Murray documents in grave detail in his new book, Revolt in the Boardroom.

In roughly two years, these three leaders have reshaped their companies, without the infinite amounts of power enjoyed by their predecessors. Some key changes these men have inspired include:

• Corporate Transparency – Mr. McNerney was determined to expand Boeing’s corporate culture by eliminating closed-door discussions and backroom decision making. He wanted to emphasize organizational transparency in order to inspire collaboration and innovation. Mr. McNerney pointed out, “I’m just one of eleven with a point of view. I have to depend on my power to persuade.”
• Pro-Environment – All three men have spent considerable efforts to show that they are good “corporate citizens.” For example, AIG set up a board committee to address public policy issues like climate change and energy conservation.
• Lower-level Strategy - Mr. Hurd is a firm believer that the beauty is in the details, and began his reign as the CEO of HP by redefining the company’s corporate strategy; from high-level futuristic planning to a strategy process that moves seamlessly with operations. He says, “If strategy isn’t clearly driving ground-level operations, my argument is that you don’t have a strategy.”
• Less Arrogance – Arrogance is detrimental character trait that leaders must abandon. By becoming more approachable, these men have inspired change using less authoritative power, and at the same time created a collaborative and innovative environment that taps into the potential of a large and diverse employee base.

These men are all change agents, and it will be interesting to see if other companies adopt similar executive-level strategies to Boeing, HP, and AIG. I hope they will, without waiting for yet another corporate scandal and CEO firing to shake things up.

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