Meg Whitman

Having once worked at eBay, I'm neither a believer or fan of Meg Whitman. And even though I have no credentials as a business or financial analyst, I felt the same disbelief as many other commentators in reaction to her selection as CEO of venerable Hewlett-Packard.

But I try to keep an open mind, and so I read this CBS MarketWatch opinion piece with great interest. Amazingly and admirably, Whitman is changing the minds of her doubters. How someone who goes into a leadership position with no well of respect and manages to turn the tide is a process that I want to learn more about.  The opening paragraph of the piece is key:

"As most readers know, I’m not necessarily a fan of Meg Whitman’s appointment as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co.  My complaint, in brief, is that she does not have the core competencies needed to guide a massive hardware company."

Exactly.  And some day when I become an administrator for the first time, this same criticism about a lack of "core competencies" will certainly be leveled at me.  With her decision-making acumen, Whitman has managed to convince a prominent critic to say, "I’m impressed with her decisions so far." I can certainly learn something from my former boss.