Selecting A New President
Bits & Pieces, May 26, 1994, pp. 18-20
When the board of directors of a large food company was considering the selection of a new president, one of the directors worked out this questionnaire:
1. Who of the possible candidates is the best known as a personality to the most company people?
2. Who is the most liked and trusted by them?
3. Who is held in the highest regard outside the organization...in public life and "in the trade"?
4. Who is the most warmly human in his dealings with people?
5. Who has demonstrated the best capacity for selecting able people, and the greatest willingness to delegate authority and responsibility?
6. Who will be apt to do the best job of keeping his desk and mind clear of day-to-day operating problems, so he will have time to think in broader terms of tomorrow and next year?
7. Who does the boldest&md;yet soundest&md;thinking?
8. Who is most open-minded and willing to revise decisions when important new facts come to light?
9. Who inspires the best cooperation and exercises the best control and coordination, without "trespassing" on responsibility once delegated?
10. Who is most self-possessed in all situations, best able to adjust to personalities and circumstances and tact and understanding?
11. Who can be depended upon to make the most of a promising new plan or idea?
12. Who can "take it" the best under a heavy load of responsibility?
13. Who is the best builder of the people under him?
14. Who is most likely, in good times and bad, to remember that the basic job of the president is to operate the business at a profit?
