Page 118 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

members—especially those who are semiretired or in a job that’s smaller
than the one opening up.
In this era of corporate scandal and management upheaval, a number
of outside directors at different organizations have been drafted into the
executive suite as interim CEOs, only to become permanent. And this has
probably not escaped the notice of your board members.
Some of them may be getting ready themselves to say, reluctantly, “If
you draft me, I’ll do it.” Meanwhile, they may have been actively cam-
paigning for the job for years.
This happened to someone I knew

ONE EXTRA SLICE who was in line for a CEO’s job, a
OF PEPPERONI CAN woman we’ll call Kate. Kate noticed one
ALTER YOUR of her board members often having
ENTIRE CAREER. SO lunch with other senior executives with-
START BUILDING A out her and also spending an unusual
REPUTATION FOR amount of time with the CFO. It finally
LEADERSHIP dawned on her that this board member
TODAY. was vying for the CEO’s spot, too.
So Kate launched a study about the
board’s conflicts of interest.While it was
known that the board member in question was also a vendor to the com-
pany, Kate’s “study” pointed out the conflict as a growing concern. And
the board forced her would-be rival out.
Your rivals aren’t under every rock, but they are behind an awful lot of
desks.

ALLOW YOUR RIVALS TO BE SHORT-SIGHTED
In all contests for a big job, he whose timing is best wins.
This means a few things. First, you have to understand that the race is
always on, even if you see no immediate opening above you, because you
cannot predict when a power shift will occur. Somebody gets killed in a

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