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Leadership Challenges – the Fog of Economics

Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.

- William Butler Yeats

The world’s biggest issues today are economic issues. They are about growth, inflation, unemployment, income distribution and so on. Many other issues are not directly about economics but are indirectly so - like climate change or immigration in the US. Even terrorism ultimately is linked to economics – people with nothing to lose are easy prey for those who preach hate.

As the world’s governments deal with these thorny economic issues, they face many challenges. The one that is peculiar to economic issues is that most voters don’t understand the economics behind these economic issues. More »

Tags: Economics, Leadership

More insiders being recruited as CEOs

A few months back I had written on Runaway CEO compensation after the Bob Nardelli/Home Depot fiasco. My sole recommendation on the way out of the CEO compensation mess was - better succession planning. More »

Tags: Business, Leadership

Runaway CEO compensation

Directors of US public companies can’t seem to get a break. First it was Sarbanes-Oxley. Lately, it has been options backdating. And now, with the Democrats controlling the legislature the volume on CEO compensation is so high, it could shatter eardrums. Runaway CEO compensation is certainly an issue, but knee-jerk legislation is not the right way.

Bob Nardelli’s recent departure from Home Depot adds fuel to the fire. Last week newspapers reporting his resignation, very typically, simplify the headline to such an extent that it distorts the truth. The directors of Home Depot apparently gave him a $210 million severance package after he did very little to the stock price in the 6 years that he was CEO.
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Tags: Business, Leadership