Executive leadership … we’ve certainly seen the long and the short of it recently.
A 50-something Arrie Rautenbach served an astoundingly abridged tenure as CEO of banking group Absa. On the other side of the coin, consumer business veteran Tjaart Kruger — in his mid-60s — gets his contract as CEO of household goods giant Tiger Brands extended by another three years. In both cases, though, shareholders seemed relieved at developments.
Then there was news to set the feathers flying when the rough and ready — and hugely likeable — Chris Schutte stepped down from the JSE’s “big bird”, Astral Foods. That’s not a position that I would want to step into. Schutte leaves very large gumboots to fill — having guided Astral through some really treacherous times when external issues like water and power supply threatened to really stuff up the core poultry operations.
What I like about Schutte — aside from him never dodging tough questions — is his lack of pretension. Schutte never pretended to be anything other than the boss of a chicken business. He knew the industry backwards and probably had chicken feed (and other stuff) on the soles of his shoes.
Perhaps this is why Astral so comfortably outperformed its rivals — where executives might not have been as “hands on” — over the years.
On that point, I wonder if any food businesses — including a certain rival poultry group — might not be keen to see Schutte perched in their boardroom as a nonexecutive director next year.
More pertinently, we do have to wonder how much a really good executive is worth? Think of Hosken Consolidated Investments without Johnny Copelyn, Afrimat without Andries van Heerden, Transpaco sans Phil Abelheim, Standard Bank without Sim Tshabalala or AVI without Simon Crutchley.
In all the above instances, there are no doubt firm succession plans in place. But some executives have an influence that extends beyond the normal fiduciary and operational duties at a company. They might well be regarded as irreplaceable.
It’s probably worth a story in an upcoming edition, delving into executive influence — both good and bad — on company prospects. You are welcome to send me your nominations and motivations.
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