I’ve been following the firing of Steve Ballmer, soon to be ex-CEO Microsoft. Among other things, I noticed he has personal wealth estimated at $18 billion so I don’t feel too bad for him figuring he will still be able to eat out often. What did get me interested was the manner of his firing and the time it took.
It seems that the board…and many shareholders…have been unhappy with his leadership for quite some time. In fact, it’s been years. Yet even as he clearly showed he was unable to be the leader Microsoft requires these days to fight off the myriad of competitors, the board bought into excuse after excuse and promise after promise. Perhaps bought in is too strong but certainly they allowed themselves to be convinced to give him one more chance to show he could re-build shareholder value and regain the leadership place Microsoft once held.
In spite of overwhelming evidence that change was required, the board dawdled.
Finally, under pressure from major shareholders and the continual failure not just to anticipate technological advances but even to take advantage of them when they proved winners for competitors…they sent him packing. Well, at least they have hired recuiters to begin the search and one of these days he will be replaced.
It got me thinking about one of the best interview questions ever when hiring top executives. “Tell me about the last person you fired.”
So much comes forth in the response. You learn about the candidate’s willingness to make difficult decisions, ability to act rather than delay, tolerance for excuses, compassion for others. How long it took to bid the fired good by and the way it was done tell you much about the candidate’s style as a leader and the culture they will build.
Most interesting are those who say “the last person I fired was myself.” It is a rare person who is so committed to doing what is needed that when they build an organization that doesn’t need them anymore they recognize this and fire themselves.
Then there are those who just can’t act no matter how badly the ship is leaking. It takes a catastrophe or intense outside pressure to force them to make the decision they should have made months or years ago. It’s quite a different culture they build.
In today’s world of decreasing size and increasingly rapid change, good leadership requires the ability to make decisions rapidly and then act on them even if the person creating the problem and requiring a change of venue is the leader themself. The most difficult decisions of all are those requiring you to deal with yourself.