I was recently asked if I would share my insights on some of today’s high-profile CEOs. I assume that the thought underpinning the inquiry was that since the majority of my working life is spent coaching and mentoring CEOs, or evaluating and assessing CEO performance for boards of directors and investors, that I might be able to provide some insights on their performance. I thought this might be an interesting exercise, so today’s post will be the inaugural piece in a new category entitled CEO Profiles. I’m going to attempt to provide a balanced scorecard approach in reviewing the performance of the lucky CEOs profiled so that there will be actionable takeaways from each assessment. You are invited to send me the names of CEOs that you’d like to see profiled, and if they’re not a current or past client I’ll add them to the queue. Today’s Profile…Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft.
When it comes to CEOs, Steve Ballmer may be one of the more controversial chief executives of the last several years. There isn’t a lot of middle ground with Steve…you are either a big fan or not. On the plus side, Steve has been running things at Microsoft during a time period when technology has been changing and evolving faster than ever before, and the company has continued to operate profitably under his leadership. On the negative side, Steve’s tenure has run conterminously with Google’s unprecedented rise, the failed Yahoo acquisition (and many other missed M&A opportunities), a plodding mobile effort, and many other sub-par initiatives. So, this begs the question, is Steve a winner because of Microsoft, or is Microsoft a winner because of Steve?
Steve Ballmer is a living dichotomy, which perplexes many people smarter than me. As perhaps is the case with most people, Steve’s most admirable qualities (his passion and company loyalty) may be the root cause of some of his greatest failings as a chief executive. His passion and loyalty while sometimes inspiring and motivating, have also at times led to blatant acts of arrogance and impulsivity resulting in PR disasters.
I don’t believe Steve Ballmer will remain CEO of Microsoft for much longer…The company needs a fresh perspective, and a new focus, which Steve cannot offer.
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