‘A Billion Votes’ - This is the name of the program covering
the general elections in a news channel in India. The world’s largest democracy
is in the throes of an election and the atmosphere has never been so charged -
ever. This is the 16th general elections in India and the longest
ever, spread out over 1 month and 1 week. While the temptation is paramount to
put in my views about the election, this article is not focused on the
elections but instead focused on a 'billion votes' and corporate leadership.
Imagine in a company of hundred thousands of employees, if
similarly, the CEO would be elected by the employees, how would that look like?
Is the situation be any different?
Well, the employees make money from the company as does the
citizens from a country. A company’s performance determines the bonus or
increment of an employee as does the country’s economic performance determine
the profit and loss of its citizens. A company has various departments
contributing in their own ways to the growth as does the country’s states or
counties contributing in their own ways to the growth.
So, by that analogy, a truly democratic company would have
general elections where the CEO is chosen by the employees rather than the
shareholders. So, interestingly while the employees are an organizations
biggest assets (particularly in the service industry), the employees have no
say in the selection of a CEO. So, does a CEO truly have to value his
employees? And what is the pressure of performance – not just an outside-in view
but an inside-out view as well?
What are the pros and cons of electing a CEO, wherein the
shortlisted candidates (by the board) have to woo the employees to get the
coveted corner office?
Advantages that I see are as follows:
- - Employees are more connection with the CEO since they have selected him/her. Majority employees could have a sense of loyalty
- - CEO is focused on governance
- - Rally employees to connect with a CEOs vision, thus enabling an overall growth strategy
- - Depth or shallowness of the CEO is exposed right during elections
Disadvantages:
- - Investment in the election process – is it really worth it?
- - Setting up of camps – opposing camps are clearly identified even among employees. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
- - CEO has the added focus of connecting with employees on regular basis – is that a good thing or a bad thing?
- - Sometimes only good articulators who can own the room could get elected – that is one of the biggest highlights of a leader. So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
What are your thoughts?
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