California proclaimed its primary a great victory for women. Actually, it’s the primary of the CEO.
Nothing new about that in California. The state has had many successful CEOs run for office–mostly unsuccessfully.
But before falling for the line about knowing how to run a business equates to knowing how to run a state, or anything in government for that matter, consider the CEO’s world.
The CEO has virtually unchecked power. Sure, fail badly and the board of directors will throw the CEO out with a golden parachute. But things don’t work at corporations the way they do in government. In the corporate world, the CEO sets the vision and then sees to it that the entire organization is devoted to carrying out that vision. Or else.
In government, my vision may not be your vision. Those involved might not even share the same goals let alone how to achieve them. CEOs don’t function well in democracies. They are used to having everything their way. This often leads to frustration and logjam.
I ask you, haven’t we seen enough logjam? Haven’t we seen enough “my way is the best way”? it doesn’t work in government.
The CEO is used to BIG compensation, salary, bonuses, stock, perks. They feel they deserve these things. If their decisions produce a billion dollars for their company, perhaps they do deserve a healthy slice.
If President Obama cut, by saving, a few billion from the budget, would he be entitled to a bonus? If a senator always votes no on spending, should she get a cut of the savings?
The sphere of the CEO and the realm of government are very different. I don’t believe CEOs fit well in that realm. In fact, I think they are most likely very unqualified to “serve”.
Billionaires are lousy servants. Be very careful. We have enough very wealthy people in government. We need people who would be honored to serve, not people who see themselves as doing us a favor while enhancing their CV.