The bright light of accountability

Hall of Fame baseball manager Casey Stengel once described his profession this way: “Managing is getting paid for home runs that someone else hits.”

Stengel, in his folksy, whimsical, down-home manner, was trying to bring some perspective to his contribution to the New York Yankees in the 1940s and 1950s. Under Stengel’s tutelage, the Bronx Bombers won 10 American League championships and 7 World Series titles in 12 seasons, an era of dominance unique in professional sports.

And while Stengel certainly played a part--he is credited with pioneering the concept of platooning players--the “Ol’ Perfesser” firmly believed that once he set the lineup, it was up to the players to determine the outcome of the contest.

Baseball teams are a lot like corporations. While it’s true that CEOs chart the course for a company’s direction, it is the employees who determine the success or failure of the company by their ability--or inability--to execute their leaders’ visions. As has been said of baseball managers time and time again over the years, CEOs get too much credit when their companies are successful.

Unfortunately, they don’t get enough blame when a company fails, especially when there is a direct correlation between that failure and the CEO’s incompetence or malfeasance. Much of the time, CEOs are able to deflect to others the criticism that comes as a result of failure. In extreme cases, underlings pay with their jobs to cover the blunders made by the boss. Even when the blunders are so big that the CEO has no choice but to take the hit, they are generally handed a multimillion-dollar life preserver--one that is often pre-negotiated--before stepping out onto the plank.

This is where CEOs part ways with baseball managers, who often are fired simply because it’s easier than getting rid of the team. Stengel--arguably the greatest manager in Yankees history--got whacked in 1960. His sin? Being in the dugout when the Bombers lost the World Series that year to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Bill Mazeroski’s now famous Game 7 home run. And he didn’t get a golden parachute.

If there is any good to come out of the Enron, WorldCom and Global Crossing debacles, it is that the hot glare of the spotlight is now being focused on CEOs as never before. President Bush has asked the U.S. Sentencing Commission to enhance prison time for criminal fraud committed by corporate officers and directors, as part of a larger effort to establish a new ethic of corporate responsibility.

The president has also challenged CEOs to explain how their compensation packages are in the best interests of their shareholders and provide complete details of those packages--in “plain English”--in company annual reports.

It will be interesting to see how many CEOs volunteer such information. The guess here is that not many will. Nevertheless, President Bush is on the right track. Shady activity is always best done in the dark, and the president’s message is clear: America is watching, and it is going to start shining a bright light on every shadow.