Leadership Incident Essay

Companies differ markedly in their ability to produce future leaders, as several recent analyses of the 1,187 largest publicly-traded U.S. companies revealed. Among the CEOs in one study, a remarkable total of 26 once worked at General Electric (GE). But as the table below shows, on a per-employee basis that earns GE only tenth place in terms of the likelihood of a current or former employee’s becoming CEO of a large company. Top on the list is management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Amazingly, if we extrapolate into the future from the current stock of McKinsey alums who are CEOs, of every 690 McKinsey employees, one will become CEO of a Fortune 1000 company. Some companies did not fare nearly as well, such as Citigroup (odds: 30,180:1), AT&T (odds: 23,220:1), and Johnson & Johnson (odds: 15,275:1). While some might dismiss the results, not surprisingly, the companies at the top of the list do not. â€Å"We are a leadership engine and a talent machine,† said retiring P&G CEO A. G. Lafley. Questions 1. Management consulting firms did very well on a per-employee basis, partly because they are mostly comprised of managers (as opposed to blue-collar or entry-level workers). How big a factor do you think composition of the workforce is in likelihood of producing a CEO? 2. Do you think so-called leadership factories are also better places for non-leaders to work? Why or why not? 3. Assume you had job offers from two companies that differed only in how often they produced CEOs. Would this difference affect your decision? 4. Do these data give any credence to the value of leader selection and leader development? Why or why not? Based on D. McCarthy, â€Å"The 2008 Best Companies for Leaders,† Great Leadership (February 17, 2009), http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2009/; F. Hansen, â€Å"Building Better Leaders†¦Faster,† Workforce Management (June 9, 2008), pp. 25-28; D. Jones, â€Å"Some Firms’ Fertile Soil Grows Crop of Future CEOs,† USA Today (January 9, 2008), pp. 1B, 2B.