Everyone agrees (Big Pitch, PRWeek, Nov. 15) that the retirement of Jack Welch was flawlessly introduced. First the announcement was well in advance: 18 months, we are told. Second, his successor will come from inside GE. There is something comforting about a company that grooms its own. While every change of CEO is a leap in the dark as far as Wall Street is concerned, if a company promotes from within, it’s like there’s a night light on.
Everyone agrees (Big Pitch, PRWeek, Nov. 15) that the retirement of
Jack Welch was flawlessly introduced. First the announcement was well in
advance: 18 months, we are told. Second, his successor will come from
inside GE. There is something comforting about a company that grooms its
own. While every change of CEO is a leap in the dark as far as Wall
Street is concerned, if a company promotes from within, it’s like
there’s a night light on.
But the cult of the CEO is a dangerous one. The next Jack Welch will not
come off a conveyor belt. There will be no next Jack Welch. And that
could be a far bigger problem than the respondents to last week’s Big
Pitch suggest.
Of course, Welch will make a fuss when he handpicks a successor from
among the suits.
He will tell us that this person is brilliant, accomplished and most
important, well-schooled in the workings of GE and the Welch management
philosophy.
Even if GE does exactly as our proponents suggested last week -
appointing the successor quickly; making sure they are seen with Jack at
every important business function; keeping the internal outreach and
intra-company communications short and sweet; being very visible to key
media and analyst influencers - that person will not be working at the
House that Jack Built.
The cult of the CEO, and the slavish adherence to it by the media,
analysts and the public, is a problem for the PR industry. As the
PRWeek/Burson Marsteller CEO survey shows (PRWeek, Nov. 15), more and
more CEOs recognize the importance of PR, and believe that reputation
management affects the stock price, none more so than companies of the
size and stature of GE.
That’s good news.
But while CEOs at companies with the very largest reputation (more than
dollars 5 billion) play down the importance of their own public image to
the company’s overall reputation, Jack Welch is such an exceptional
figure in the history of US business that his successor will always pale
by comparison.
The minute there’s a problem, people will look back anxiously and
compare the two - even when results are good.
Those are going to be two big boots to fill. And the corporate
communications head is going to have a tough job telling people that
they’re indeed filled.
Web election? What web election?
How alarmed should George W. Bush be that his web site ranked
second-to-last in PRWeek’s presidential campaign-site rating? About as
concerned as he is about blanking on the leader of India - that is, not
very. As one e-politics expert argues in this week’s feature story
(p20), the Internet will be as important to the 2000 election as the
phonograph was to the 1960 election.
None of the web sites sway public opinion, serving mainly as
opportunities to rehash biographies, mobilize volunteers and - of course
- generate money. While smartly designed sites can help underdogs like
John McCain and Bill Bradley, the fact remains that the Internet has
provided more headaches than headlines so far.
