The world of executives is like engaging a football manager for a season or more than a season. It is performance based. However, it boils down to the mentality of the Board of Directors (BODs) to give sufficient time for someone to perform in the hot-seat.
2022 was a big year for CEO departures in retail. Bed Bath & Beyond, Gap, Glossier, Bonobos and more saw their top executives leave as the businesses changed or struggled to compete. A recent Challenger, Gray & Christmas report found that 100 CEOs across industries left their jobs in December, an increase from 95 in November. Layoffs in retail have been rampant, both last year and into the new year, and new CEOs will have to navigate through existing company challenges and whatever macroeconomic conditions the industry could face in 2023. [5 CEOs to watch in 2023, Jan. 30, 2023, Retail Dive]
Here we have selected CEOs to watch.
Adidas
Puma’s former CEO Bjørn Gulden just took the reins at competitor Adidas on Jan. 1. With fake news press, break-up with Kanye West “Ye” – potentially hurting sales; analysts said Gulden was “one of the best hires they could make”. Praised him for his success reinvigorating the (much smaller) Puma brand.
Sephora
Sephora’s new CEO, Guillaume Motte, with several years of experience at parent company LVMH. The previous CEO, Martin Brok reportedly exited the role due to “a divergence of views.” This will be an interesting time for the company and will see a more direct competition with Ulta.
Under Armour
Under Armour is the only retailer on this list that looked outside of the core retail environment for its new leader. The athletics brand tapped 25-year Marriott veteran Stephanie Linnartz as its new CEO in December; she is set to start in February. While Linnartz doesn’t have core retail experience, working at the hotel giant means she has experience in strategy, finance, sales, marketing and technology.
Personally
My favourite person to follow: Sir Alex Ferguson “Fergie” was appointed by Manchester United (“United”) in November 1986. When he was appointed, many of his players were having drinking problem and depressed. Through determination and discipline, he managed to have the team climbed up from 21st spot to 11th place. Consider this though – his first three games, a defeat, a draw before finally a win.
Fergie had been not been winning for 7 and 8 games in a row and by the 3rd year, fans were frustrated and wanted him to be sacked. He started to buy and sell his players, trained them up. In 1990, following a run of seven games without a win, United were drawn away to Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup. Forest were performing well that season and were in the process of winning the League Cup for the second season running, and it was expected that United would lose the match and Fergie would consequently be sacked, but United won the game 1–0 due to a Mark Robins goal and eventually reached the final. This cup win is often cited as the match that saved Ferguson's Old Trafford career. From thereon over his 26 years career with United, he won 38 trophies. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of football.
To know more about Sir Alex Ferguson and other legendary football managers, I am prepared to give courses on football management philosophy and provide strategies to grow and improve your organisation.
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