Interesting tidbit in Monday's Wall Street Journal
curtain-raiser on the first meeting of the newly reconstituted board of General Motors Co.
The Journal quotes former Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) chairman Bill George (pictured) on what GM chairman Ed Whitacre should be doing in the post. Mainly, says George, Whitacre should be keeping the government out of the hair of GM CEO Fritz Henderson. The story then notes that George was approached about the GM chairmanship, "but turned it down, saying he was too busy."
This gave pause to someone who thinks getting Whitacre, the former chairman of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), to accept the post was something of a coup, and after the announcement hastened to write about what he
brings to the job. The list still makes sense: experience driving change in an insular culture, knowledge of Washington, a good record working with a unionized workforce,
respect from Republicans and so on. It just doesn't seem quite so inevitable if George was asked first, which is how the Journal makes it sound.
But maybe some nuance was lost in the writing, and George was one of several candidates in what must have been an intensive search.
In any case George has a
different sort of profile, on view on the site of the Harvard Business School, where he's a professor of management practice. Prior to an impressive run building up the medical devices company, he worked at Honeywell Inc. (NYSE:HON). He has also published three books on leadership, including one that came out recently.
Like Whitacre, George doesn't have a background in cars. However, he did publish a Wall Street Journal
op-ed in December entitled "A plan to save GM." Its outlines are similar to what GM has since done -- shedding brands and dealers and plucking a "good" company from a bad one -- except for two things. One, George didn't think that bankruptcy would work. And two, he wanted to hire a new CEO from outside, with his first choice being Renault Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. -
Kenneth Klee
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