What would the board of directors (that would be all of us) do if our CEO (Obama) delivered lower sales, lower revenue, lower margin, and no profit every year in the job?
It’s hard as a business owner, CEO and conservative to not comment on a regular basis about the state of the election opportunity we face in the United States. There is so much rhetoric that it’s hard to separate the chaff from the facts in order to come up with the truth. With that said, it is up to a board of directors to do just that for companies. They must listen to a CEO’s plan, opinions, opportunities, proposals, ideas and excuses and then make an intelligent choice as to the best way to move forward with that CEO based on execution against that plan and the results achieved.
It really is that simple. It’s not about who came before you or what they did. That works in business for about 6 months (honeymoon period). After that, you as the CEO are responsible for your plan and your results versus that plan.
We could discuss P&L’s and the detail that we can glean as we peel back the onion skin, we can talk about new brand images (the look & feel of the company). What we have to look at are the basic results. In a company those are sales which forecasts future growth, revenue which is the financial yardstick of the company and a reflection of recent retraction or growth and the cash needed or lacking to support the companies future. And finally, the last piece is the profit that supports the company’s investment in the future.
So let’s take a look at President Obama’s results that loosely tie to the measures that most CEO’s would be held accountable to and listed above.
1. Gas Prices when entering office $1.84. Today $3.69, a 101% increase.
2. Unemployment when entering office 7.8%. Today 7.9%, a 1.2% increase.
3. Food Stamp Recipients when entering office 31.9M. Today 46.7M a 46% increase.
4. Poverty level (people) when entering office 39.8M. Today 46.2M a 16% increase.
5. National Debt when entering office $10.6 Trillion. Today $16.2 Trillion a 53% increase.
In the example above, increases are not a good thing. A CEO that raises sales, revenue and profits at the surface would be doing a good job. A CEO with the results listed above would be considered an abysmal failure.
Our greatest privilege as a citizen is our right to vote and to vote our conscience. When we are in that voting booth, no one can tell us what to do. Our choice is based on our understanding of promises made and promises kept.
What any board of directors would do when faced with the results from Mr. Obama’s first four years listed above, would be to fire the CEO immediately. In fact it would not have taken four years to act.
Vote your conscience and Thanks for voting!
