如何選擇合適的首席執行官

直面常見的難題。

????很少有候選人具備所有條件，但董事會必須選出一個人。比如這樣一個常見的兩難選擇：一個候選人擁有專門而深入的高度復雜的專業技能，但沒有太多領導經驗，另一個候選人在大型組織展現了領導力，但缺乏在選擇公司未來方向時所急需的復雜專業技能。

????花旗集團（Citigroup）在金融危機中挑選查克?普林斯的繼任者時面臨著這樣的難題。為了建立信用、激發信任，大多數人在尋找第二類候選人，就是來自大型金融機構的成功領導人，花旗董事長當時甚至向這樣一個候選人發出了邀請。他就在同一個行業，但是缺乏處理有毒資產的經驗，而那是花旗危機的根本問題；他成功的部分原因其實就是因為回避了這類金融工具。后來，有位德高望重的董事力排眾議，董事會終于在數小時內改變了主意，轉向第一類候選人：潘偉迪，花旗內部的有毒資產專家（值得一提的是，那位力挽狂瀾的董事本人一輩子就在和這些有毒資產打交道）。董事會相信，潘偉迪能夠成長為領袖，而他也不負眾望。

????雖然花旗還未完全恢復，但現在沒人質疑選擇潘偉迪的正確性了。就花旗最急需的人才所做出的正確判斷終于得到了回報。

為新任首席執行官的成功保駕護航。

????沒有候選人會完全適合一個公司。董事會應該找出勝出候選人的弱項，同時決定如何幫助他/她彌補缺陷。董事們需要提前討論他們為選擇這個候選人所承擔的風險。他們也要考慮隨著時間的推移，候選人可能取得的進步。最近出現的最佳實踐就是指派一名資深董事擔任傳聲筒和教練的角色，幫助新任首席執行官獲得成功，并且制定一個詳盡的計劃在第一年里把這種幫助落到實處。

????公司的領導職能已經從首席執行官轉移到董事會。在這樣激烈競爭和加速變化的時代，董事會尤其需要證明他們能勝任其首要任務，即確保公司一直擁有稱職的首席執行官。按照以上四步行事，董事會有望大大增加他們成功的機會。

????你的董事會是否勝任分內的工作呢？

Confront common dilemmas.

????Few candidates have it all, yet directors must choose someone. For example, here's a common dilemma: choosing between a candidate possessing narrow, deep, highly sophisticated expertise but without much leadership experience, and a candidate with demonstrated leadership in a large organization but with no expertise in the sophisticated specialty urgently required for knowing where to take the company in the future.

????That was the dilemma that Citigroup's (C) board faced as it chose a replacement for CEO Chuck Prince in the financial crisis. To establish credibility and inspire confidence, most people were looking for the second type of candidate, someone with strong credentials as a successful leader from a large financial institution, and the chairman even made an offer to such a candidate. He was in essentially the same industry but without experience in toxic assets, which were at the heart of Citi's crisis; he was successful in part because he had avoided such instruments. Through the heavy-handed persuasion of a highly regarded director who had lived with these toxic issues for much of his life, the board within hours reversed its position and turned to the first type of candidate, Vikram Pandit, the internal expert on toxic assets. The board believed Pandit would grow as a leader, and he did.

????Citi is not totally out of the woods, but no one now questions the choice of Pandit. Making the right decision about what Citi needed most made the difference.

Set the new CEO up for success.

????No candidate is a perfect fit. The board should identify where the winning candidate falls short and determine how to help him or her close the gap. Directors need to discuss up front what risks they're taking by choosing that candidate. They should also try to imagine how the candidate might evolve over time. An emerging best practice is to appoint a senior director as a sounding board and coach to help make the new CEO successful, with a highly structured plan for delivering that help in the CEO's first year.

????Corporate leadership has shifted from the CEO to the board. In this age of intense competition and accelerating change, boards must above all demonstrate excellence in their No. 1 job of having the right CEO at all times. Following these four practices will vastly improve their chances.

????Is your board good enough to do the job they're accountable for?