Underdog without a college degree beats out advantaged opponent for CEO position.
In the cut-throat world of business, it can sometimes be hard to break through without certain advantages.
One man tells an inspiring story of how his CEO started from the bottom of the company, rose through the ranks, and was able to succeed.
This is the story of our CEO who I admire and respect...became CEO.
He had been SVP for a few years now, and the owner of the company wanted him to take over as CEO as the owner was going retire and the company was going transition into more of a corporate governing structure, some of this had already been completed. Like they had a board of directors etc.
The debate over who would be the CEO came down to two people.
John: He was hired by this company in college when he was 21, and he never graduated. He grew from the bottom up. He had worked in basically every department, lead every department, and understand the company inside and out.
Alex: came into the company as a VP, he has an MBA and experience in the industry. He was the 2nd favorite to become CEO.
In an early discussion, the board apparently wanted to vote on who would become the interim CEO before the owner retired. They wanted this to be an 18-month run-up as taking over was considered a big deal.
Alex knew John was the primary contender and had him beat out by a few votes. So Alex brought up the fact that in the company bylaws, it stated the executive officers (CEO, CTO, CIO, CFO) all had to have college degrees, and therefore John wasn't qualified.
This caused the meeting come to an end. I believe at this point Alex felt he had John beat. So John went to the owner and had a conversation.
At the next meeting, the CEO stated he intended on doing one year longer. The board was shocked, but nothing said the CEO had to retire when he said he would.
That's when John went into action. You see John had 90 college credits. His brother was also the assistant dean at the local community college. John was an English major when this company hired him 35 years prior.
The local community college quickly admitted John as a Senior into their English Lit major. Due to John's 35+ years of business three required business classes were given to him. John also loved math he cleped his final math class. This gave John 102 credits....18 credits shy.
So John enrolled in the 12 credits for the spring semester. He completed those and finished up his last 6 credits in the 8 week summer semester.
In the Q3 board meeting the CEO announced he was prepared to allow the board to vote on his replacement come the Q4 meeting. The CEO made it clear he considered the two front runners John and Alex. Alex brought up the fact that John needed a degree.
John smiled, reached into his briefcase and pulled out his diploma from the community college clearly showing he graduated with honors with a major in English Lit. In the Q4 board meeting, John won by a landslide to become the next CEO.
Here is what people had to say:
God bless that CEO who decided not to quit yet and wait for John to get his degree. I guess the old dude sees potential in one.
That story warms my heart. “Well done” to your friend.
This immediately reminded me of a commercial I saw over a decade ago. A woman goes to a cube farm and tells some yuppie in a suit she needs him, and it's vital. She leads him through the offices and eventually into a warehouse.
The whole time he's following her, he's adjusting his tie, his hair, his suit jacket - assuming he's about to meet with someone from the C suites. Finally they arrive at a desk in a warehouse and she tells him that they need him to do something for inventory control.
And he looks at her with disdain and says, 'I have an MBA.' And she says, 'An MBA?' Long pause. 'In that case I better show you how to do it.' I don't remember what they were advertising, but it made me think MBAs weren't worth the paper they were printed on.
And through the entire process Alex tanked any trust he had with the rest of the company. He proved that he was a backstabbed and not to be trusted. Can’t imagine he last long at the firm.
Reminds me of a story told to me. Disclaimer; this is a friend of a friend story so it could easily be 100% bulls**t. Anyways, dude is a young lawyer, doing pretty well. Meets a doctor, they fall in love and get married. Only her parents don’t approve because he’s just a lawyer while she’s a doctor.
After a couple years of him getting tired of the disrespect, he goes to medical school and becomes a doctor himself. Plus his specialty is brain stuff, vs her general practice. And now he lords it over her parents.
Very nice. Very wholesome. Why didn't the owner and Board just amend the Company bylaws? And who put that stupid rule in there in the first place?