The New Breed of CEO

The New Breed of CEO

2

Changing the mindset

 

One of the few concrete means of measuring our view of leaders — CEO pay — implies that little has changed. It is rising at an even faster rate, and can still be hidden by complicated options schemes. What was 42 times the average worker’s salary in 1980 is 531 times today. “It takes a while for that whole mindset to change,” says governance expert Richard Koppes, noting that compensation committees are now cracking down.

 

Integrity matters

 

How do companies find people of integrity? “There’s no pop quiz for ethics,” says Elson. It is also highly subjective¹, and hard to judge in interviews. That’s why George, now at Harvard, believes “preference should always be given to the internal candidate, whose strengths and weaknesses are well known.” Nell Minow, founder² of The Corporate³ Library, says when a headhunter recently asked her to rank 10 words to describe today’s ideal CEO, her first choice — integrity — wasn’t even on the list.

 

Companies are getting better at cracking down on lapses⁴ in integrity. Minow admits that boards are now finally asking tough questions instead of rubberstamping the wishes of a charming CEO. “You could take extremely capable, honorable people of great integrity and watch them lose 50 percent of their IQ” when they’re on a board, says Minow. It’s similar to telling her kids that if she doesn’t hear about trouble right away, “you are grounded until you die.” She adds, “Boards have to be like that with the CEO,” making it clear they want to hear about trouble right away.

 

Has the power balance clearly shifted away from CEO dominance? When a few more quietly inspiring CEOs start delivering results, we’ll know for sure.

Vocabulary Focus

crack down (idiom) to take strong action to stop something from happening

pop quiz (n) a test given without any advance warning

dominance (n) [5dRminEns] the condition of being more important, influential⁵, strong or noticeable than anything else of the same type

 

Specialized⁶ Terms

options (n pl) 选择权 a part of a contractual agreement that gives the holder⁷ the right to specified⁸ commodities in the future

rubber-stamp (v) 扮演橡皮图章的角色；不假思索即赞同或批准（决定或计划） to officially approve a decision or plan without thinking about it

ground (v) 禁足 to punish a child or young person by not allowing him or her to go out or participate in social activities

 

Company Information

Medtronic 美敦力医疗仪器 produces medical products that help patients with diabetes⁹, heart disease, neurological disorders¹⁰ and vascular¹¹ illnesses. The company is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Colgate-Palmolive 高露洁-棕榄公司 is headquartered in New York and is a world leader in consumer products.

Citigroup 花旗集团 one of the world’s largest financial institutions, is based in New York.

Novartis 诺华公司 specializes in pharmaceuticals¹², eye care, and consumer and animal health. With headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, it operates through 360 independent affiliates¹³ in 140 countries.

Wells Fargo 富国银行 a San Francisco-based financial institution, is also one of the largest banks in the world.

The Corporate Library 企业图书馆 in Portland, Maine, is a consulting firm that deals with corporate governance analysis and assessment¹⁴.

新型执行官

2

改变心态

有少数几项具体根据可以评量我们对领导者的观点，其中之一是执行官的薪酬。从这项根据来看，情况几乎没有改变。执行官薪酬目前增加的速度甚至比以前更快，而且还可能藉由复杂的股票选择权计划予以隐藏。1980年执行官薪酬为平均员工薪酬的42倍，今天则已达531倍。领导管理专家理查·科帕斯说：“整体的心态需要一段时间才能改变。”他指出薪酬委员会现在正尽力抑制这种薪酬成长。

 

正直品格至关重要   

怎样才能找到正直的人？艾尔森说：“道德没有随堂考这回事。”而且它是非常主观、很难根据面试判断的。目前身在哈佛的乔治因此相信“应该永远先给内部人选优先的机会，因为他们的优点及缺点大家都很清楚”。企业图书馆创办人奈尔·米诺表示，最近一家人力资源公司要求她将描述今日理想执行官的10个词予以排序，而她的首选——正直——甚至不在清单上。   

企业界目前已逐渐擅长解决正直沦落的问题。米诺承认董事会现在终于能拋出一些棘手的问题，而不再扮演橡皮图章的角色以附和某位魅力十足的执行官的想法了。米诺表示：“你可以找极有能力、受人尊敬而且正直的人，”但一旦他们置身董事会，“你就会看到他们仿佛丧失了50%智商的蠢样。”这就像告诉她的孩子，如果她不能立刻听到他们坦承自己惹上的麻烦，“你这辈子都要被禁足”一样。她又说：“董事会对执行官就得这样强硬。”应该表明要马上了解问题的立场。

权力是否已明显地脱离执行官的主导大权？只要再有几位低调激励员工的执行官开始展现成果，我们就一定会知道答案。

1 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

5 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

6 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

7 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

8 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

9 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

10 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 vascular   

adj.血管的，脉管的

参考例句：

• The mechanism of this anomalous vascular response is unknown.此种不规则的血管反应的机制尚不清楚。
• The vascular changes interfere with diffusion of nutrients from plasma into adjacent perivascular tissue and cells.这些血管变化干扰了营养物质从血浆中向血管周围邻接的组织和细胞扩散。

12 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。

14 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？