A company in good financial shape with strong positive inertia? Sure, but I don't know that describes Boeing at the time of his hire. (Maybe it does, not sure)
I still don't necessarily disagree, but you left out the second part of my sentence which is rather significant:
"and will be acceptable candidates in the eyes of the board/shareholders."
Sure, Random HN User #587942 might be a decent Apple CEO. Hell, they might even make a great POTUS. Aside from having one's finger on the nuclear button, I think a POTUS is primarily a strong delegator in much the sense that a CEO is.
That doesn't mean they are going to be remotely acceptable as a candidate in the eyes of the board + shareholders. Nobody is going to stick their neck out for Random HN User #587942. They are going to pick somebody with a positive track record of leading big companies.
This isn't ideal! I'm not defending it. I'm just saying why it happens. It's the C-suite equivalent of "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM."
I still don't necessarily disagree, but you left out the second part of my sentence which is rather significant:
Sure, Random HN User #587942 might be a decent Apple CEO. Hell, they might even make a great POTUS. Aside from having one's finger on the nuclear button, I think a POTUS is primarily a strong delegator in much the sense that a CEO is.That doesn't mean they are going to be remotely acceptable as a candidate in the eyes of the board + shareholders. Nobody is going to stick their neck out for Random HN User #587942. They are going to pick somebody with a positive track record of leading big companies.
This isn't ideal! I'm not defending it. I'm just saying why it happens. It's the C-suite equivalent of "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM."