Dido Harding Quotes

I do not want to be a long-term CEO.

The industry has to learn how to do CEO succession well. If your definition of success is Intel or Microsoft or HP or IBM, that's not a good track record, and yet they are the most successful ones.

CEOs can stay too long.

I've always been of the view that two-term presidency rule is a pretty good one and CEOs shouldn't overstay their welcome.

I think there's few cases in history where the C.E.O. steps down and is also the founder and reports to someone and that works.

I think every responsible public board at every board meeting should be discussing succession. And, of course, Walmart has a very mature board: our chairman Rob Walton and other members. So succession is an ongoing. I think when I first joined the board of directors, it was discussed then. And it's discussed at every board meeting continually.

I'm in a different position than most CEO's. I'm a founder. I'm not a hired CEO. Now, I can be fired by the board, but most CEO's are hired by the board.

The lesson is that, No. 1, this management has to be at the highest class possible. No. 2, they have to have a succession plan.

CEOs resign when the internal dynamics of the company and the external dynamics of the company actually come together to say it is appropriate. When the internal dynamics ask you whether you have a replacement. I think the transition from CEOships have also become cartoonish.

My view is that at a certain age - and we can debate whether that age is 70-72 or 75 - members need to step off boards. As per the banking guidelines, that age for the director on a board today is 70.

When I took over the family business, it had already been a publicly traded company for 20 years. During one of the first annual meetings I attended, one shareholder stood up and advised me and everyone in attendance that I should resign.

Any slots at the senior level, including CEO or other slots, will be filled internally.

Shareholder meetings are not usually the occasion for utter candor - or for that matter, arch sarcasm - by chief executives.

If somebody's going on your board, and you're going to be C.E.O., it will help if that person knows how to be C.E.O., who has done it before.

On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with Administration officials. In the course of that meeting, they requested that I 'step aside' as CEO of GM, and so I have.

There is a difference between hiring a CEO and turning over control of the business.

Who my successor is will be up to the board, not me.

Deciding whether or not to bring in an outside CEO is one of the most gut-wrenching decisions that a founder will ever need to make.

I joined the board of Etsy when it was just three founders, and I helped recruit the COO and CTO, Chad Dickerson, who later became the CEO.

The role of a board of directors is to be a sounding board for the vision of the company - to hold executives accountable in executing that vision and to ensure a management succession plan is in place.

As a former member of JWA's management team, and more recently as a director, I am delighted to have the opportunity now to take the reins of leadership of the company. I look forward to working with JWA's management team to chart the course and execute the plan to further strengthen and broaden JWA's leading product franchises.

The number of CEOs voluntarily leaving their jobs or being forced out spiked early. Many of those companies will be turning to an interim CEO to take the reins. These temporary leaders are increasingly in demand, according to those who watch corner office trends.

In business terms, if you take over a company and oust its CEO or fire a divisional chief, you run the place. But in institutional terms, as it happens, it doesn't at all work that way.

I love business and that's why I go on other people's board because it is my hobby. Some people join a tennis club to do things in their spare time. I join boards because that's what I love.

For the label to grow, it has to have great executives who understand the culture, understand the mission, and can lead. I don't want to be part of every decision.