In the trade press recently and in some very public announcements, there are notifications about companies having a change in CEO. The changes are usually simply worded about the CEO being replaced with information about the new CEO. Sometimes the information indicates the departing CEO is retiring but most often the implication is that the CEO was fired. While there seems to have been quite a few “retirements” or “replacements” announced recently, there may be another burst occurring after year-end results are known.
The CEO changes seem very similar to football coaches being fired although firing a football coach is much bigger news in the media and discussed more both with sports fans and the endless stream of talking heads on television, if you are high level football player then check out ws in the media and discussed more both with sports fans and the endless stream of talking heads on television, if you are high level football player then check out anabolic roids prohormone. The similarities between CEOs being fired and football coaches being let go are interesting to consider:
With football, it’s easy to describe the situation as “Win or you’re gone.” But some are let go even with winning records. It’s really about meeting expectations. If expectations such as beating an historical rival, winning a certain number of games, or attaining a top tier bowl game are not met, there is little forgiveness.
And, there’s a lot of money involved. For the university and alumni, there’s no small amount of ego present as well.
With CEOs, it’s about meeting expectations as well. The expectations from the board or investors are set and failing to measure up, whatever the reason, are seen as failure. Like football, there seems to be less patience than ever to allow for changes and unforeseen events to affect not meeting expectations. Investors are a lot like university alumni. They want instant gratification.
There is one big difference in the departure of CEOs and football coaches: a new CEO is usually named as soon as the previous one is fired… or retired. For football coaches, they seem to be fired without a concrete plan other than doing a search for a new coach. While the search is in progress with a great deal of speculation from fans and media, athletes can leave and recruits go elsewhere. Maybe there are some lessons here about taking a different approach.
Getting that new coach or new CEO does not mean they will be successful or any better than the last one. But, they will be different and that brings hope for greater success. And, the trials of meeting a new set of expectations.
