Do any of you read The Motley Fool? By far the best thing of its kind, my partner Marta introduced it to me.
Today there was a piece about the best way to evaluate a possible investment.
Essentially it said that the best businesses tend to be the ones in which the owner has a big stake.
But it also talked about the attitude to running a business, as follows:
Costco Wholesale CEO Jim Sinegal has repeatedly resisted raising his salary, even though the company’s compensation committee has suggested that he is underpaid. When Costco ran into some “improprieties” about options backdating, Sinegal and CFO Richard Galanti voluntarily forfeited their bonuses. That’s the epitome of stewardship — taking full responsibility and putting shareholders first.
Interesting, when you compare it with the behaviour of the two shits who ran RBS and Northern Rock, isn’t it?
Here’s a good joke my partner Al sent me
On a flight from Glasgow to London, the aircraft hit some turbulence and suddenly dropped like a stone for what seemed like an eternity. Stomachs in throats, gasps and screams from all the passengers until the aircraft stopped dropping and resumed its flight.
The eerie silence immediately after this was broken by howls of laughter from the passengers when a toddler at the front of the plane, who shouted at the top of his voice “AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN!”
It's a shame more compnay heads don't behave as responsibly.
And…
Are you sure that was just a joke? It sounds like something which would really happen.
Oh, and you might want to check out a new post on my blog. It was an email from some guy called Drayton Bird. It's pretty good stuff: http://directanddigitalmarketing.com/1777/regain-the-lost-millions/
In many companies similar behaviour is seen as a sign of weakness at the top.
I think too many people confuse greed and machismo with competence and leadership