Or is she something much more mundane, just another CEO who resigned after her poor track record caused stakeholders to lose confidence in her leadership? While the martyr story strikes an emotional chord, the near riot in the Board Room at the Jeffco Ed Center on Feb. 8 after Dr. Stevenson announced her resignation demands that we confront this question.
In today’s intensely competitive, complex and fast-changing economy, failed CEOs are unfortunately all too common, particularly when they have held power for a long time. In a recent article in the Strategic Management Journal (“How Does CEO Tenure Matter?” by Luo, Kanuri, and Andrews), the authors describe the path to resignation taken by too many long-serving CEOs. After an initial period of energy and change, they settle into established routines and organizational innovation slows. Over time, these CEOs also narrow their sources of information and become increasingly reliant on internal colleagues, which causes them to lose touch with the changing views and needs of their outside stakeholders.
The author's conclusion
After weighing the evidence, it seems clear that those people who fervently believe Dr. Stevenson is a martyr are quite wrong. Instead, the data point to a different conclusion: She is simply the latest name on the long list of CEOs whose poor performance cost them the confidence of their stakeholders and led to their departure.
The JeffCo voters cast out her school board supporters. What better way to say your ideas just aren't working? And like most CEO's she has a nice retirement setup already and a new well paying job.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
