The Daily Walk of Shame series usually examines things
that just aren't right in the world of finance and
investing. Today, though, we're replacing the "Shame" with
"Fame." Feel free to spread the love in the comments
section below.
Today's subject: Last week, I called out
cowardly, money-grubbing corporate leaders. But it's not
always productive to heap scorn on the ne'er-do-wells of the
business world. For a change of pace, let's spotlight a few
of the folks doing things right instead.
Why you should be heartened: First, I should
probably take a short walk of shame
myself. In my zeal to call out gutless "leaders," I
accidentally dissed
Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz,
accusing him of preserving his own pay while his company
closed stores and laid off workers. Starbucks quickly let us
know that Schultz actually
didask the board of directors to cut his salary in
January. This year, it'll drop from around $1.2 million to
less than $10,000.
I'd never heard about Schultz's request to reduce his pay,
but I'm not too cowardly to admit when I've made a mistake. I
wished that more corporate leaders would voluntarily share
the pain of tough times with workers and shareholders, and
accept responsibility when business goes south. Commendably,
Schultz has done just that.
In truth, some corporations do have reasonable leaders who
display passion for their jobs, rather than their paychecks.
Several CEOs even take modest paychecks during prosperous
times:
Costco 's (Nasdaq: COST) CEO Jim Sinegal
has always taken reasonable compensation; in 2008, his base
salary was $350,000, and his cash bonus was $80,000.
Despite his legendary investing skills and vast
personal wealth,
Berkshire Hathaway 's (NYSE: BRK-A) Warren
Buffett takes a very modest $100,000 per year from his
company. He's also been an outspoken critic of outsized
executive pay for undersized performance.
Several CEOs have actually
taken pay cutsrecently because of their
companies' lack of performance. My Foolish colleague Selena
Maranjian noted voluntary salary cuts at 373 struggling
public companies, including
Ford (NYSE: F),
EMC (NYSE: EMC) and
Motorola (NYSE: MOT). Still, that's a small
number among the thousands of companies listed on public
exchanges. Clearly, such heroic measures by CEOs -- or their
boards of directors -- remain few and far between.
What now? Even those of us who consider
ourselves capitalists must realize that out-and-out, me-first
greed is lousy behavior from both a business and a personal
standpoint. Proponents of
conscious capitalism, for example, recognize that true
leaders serve the enterprise and all its stakeholders, not
the other way around. For conscious capitalists, business
isn't a war, but a
holistic webthat can connect companies, workers,
suppliers, customers, and shareholders for the betterment of
all. And of course, solid, well-run companies with smart,
ethical, passionate management are far more likely to succeed
over the long haul.
If I missed the news of Howard Schultz's selfless salary
cut, who knows what other heroic CEOs or boards have also
escaped my notice? That's why I need your help, Fools. Do
youknow of a company whose management is behaving
responsibly and protecting its stakeholders? We've already
complained about the cowards; now's the perfect time to
celebrate all the members of corporate America who strive to
do the right thing. Please let us know about your executive
heroes in the comment boxes below.
This article was originally published as
Daily Walk of Fame: Corporate Heroeson
Fool.com
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