The Lessons We Can Learn From The Worst CEOs In History

The Success Of An Organisation Is Deeply Affected By The Decisions Of The Ceo. We Look At Some Of The Worst, So You Can Learn From Where They Went Wrong.

- Emma Woollacott

One of the markers of a good business leader is a desire to constantly learn and improve. As a result, there’s a huge market for self-improvement – from CEO autobiographies to TED Talks to books on management and achievement.

But how much can you really learn from success? Take Steve Jobs, who built the massive Apple empire from scratch, for example. Can we identify the crucial factor to his success? Was it his powerful drive? His marketing savvy? Or something completely different?

The causes of failure, on the other hand, can be a lot easier to pinpoint, especially when they bring a previously successful organisation down. And while it’s a truism that we learn best from mistakes, those mistakes don’t have to be our own.

We look at seven of the worst CEOs in history and what they did to earn that label – so you can make sure you don’t follow suit.

KAY WHITMORE EASTMAN KODAK This story is one of complacency and lack of vision. In 1990, Kay Whitmore’s first year as CEO of Kodak, he famously fell asleep in a meeting with Bill Gates at which integrating the company’s products with Windows was being discussed.

Indeed, despite the fact that Eastman Kodak had actually developed the digital camera in 1975, Whitmore refused to take the technology seriously and failed to invest. As digital started to take over the world, the company fell into decline. Whitmore was fired after three years, mainly for failing to cut costs enough.

Lesson: Whitmore’s background was squarely in film, and he failed completely to see the opportunities in the digital world.

KEN LAY ENRON