Sometimes things aren't what they appear to be.
In an official announcement yesterday, Delta Airlines said that current President Ed Bastian will retain the CFO title, which effectively cancels previous plans to hire a new CFO. That was the official line along with some corporate speak about "seamlessly maintaining relationships and momentum..." Whatever.
Here's another take based on a leadership truth that often gets shoved aside.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Bastian and CEO Richard Anderson have developed a strong personal dislike of one another. No big surprise there, taking into account the original chain of events that led to Anderson's hiring. But since the personal dislike factor can't be applied specifically to a news context it gets dismissed as normal vagaries of the executive suite.
Anyone following this company would be wise to watch closely how this personal riff plays out with personnel and business decisions. We often learn a lot more from human behavior managing a company than events perceived as materially consequential to the business. Then there's the irony, which every rich story contains. CEO Anderson is reportedly more operations inclined while the "brain" and main strategist from the original team, Jim Whitehurst, left the building awhile back. Whitehurst is rumored to be the next CEO of RedHat in Raleigh, N.C., but we can't confirm that to be true. Look for Bastian to leave early next year if things don't improve.
As to rumors of a Northwest merger, well, it doesn't make a lot of business sense. But according to our own stated rule, that probably doesn't mean much in the high stakes deal making world. The board is clearly consolidating its view around what comes next. Guess we'll just have to stay tuned for now.
In an official announcement yesterday, Delta Airlines said that current President Ed Bastian will retain the CFO title, which effectively cancels previous plans to hire a new CFO. That was the official line along with some corporate speak about "seamlessly maintaining relationships and momentum..." Whatever.
Here's another take based on a leadership truth that often gets shoved aside.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Bastian and CEO Richard Anderson have developed a strong personal dislike of one another. No big surprise there, taking into account the original chain of events that led to Anderson's hiring. But since the personal dislike factor can't be applied specifically to a news context it gets dismissed as normal vagaries of the executive suite.
Anyone following this company would be wise to watch closely how this personal riff plays out with personnel and business decisions. We often learn a lot more from human behavior managing a company than events perceived as materially consequential to the business. Then there's the irony, which every rich story contains. CEO Anderson is reportedly more operations inclined while the "brain" and main strategist from the original team, Jim Whitehurst, left the building awhile back. Whitehurst is rumored to be the next CEO of RedHat in Raleigh, N.C., but we can't confirm that to be true. Look for Bastian to leave early next year if things don't improve.
As to rumors of a Northwest merger, well, it doesn't make a lot of business sense. But according to our own stated rule, that probably doesn't mean much in the high stakes deal making world. The board is clearly consolidating its view around what comes next. Guess we'll just have to stay tuned for now.
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