Single holiday wish

Last week's headlines in The Wall Street Journal presented an all too familiar trend line. First came AIG's CEO complaining about pay restrictions while threatening to quit after only a few months in the job. He later retracted and said he was staying for now. Evidently the "war for top talent" rages on to the point where even a leader of a too big to fail enterprise feels compelled to cry wolf.

Then came reports of another candidate for the Bank of America (BofA) CEO job turning up his nose because reportedly $34 million in stock paid in another deal would not be paid out in full if he took the BofA position at a lesser grade. Why someone would view the position as just another notch in the money belt is more instructional than it should be. Evidently restoring credibility at the nation's largest bank and earning career making chops that goes with doing so aren't worth the advertised compensation.

Ah, yes. Unchecked self interest continues unabated in American executive circles. What a way to end the year during which many have lost but few have gained. I can hear the cries now, "But why shouldn't he command the most money? Aren't you a capitalist? Since when did the government start setting private sector pay levels -- that's SOCIALIST!"

Fair enough. Argue away. It's a free country. Just be sure to see both sides.

The message here is not about government control vs. impinging on capitalism. Far from it. That argument is way above our pay grade any way.

It's a simpler holiday wish: That those who continue to act exclusively in their own self interest (Hint: All of us at one time or another) reach out beyond themselves and lift up a fellow man or woman in need.

That could be as dramatic as helping someone in trouble, hunger or sorrow or as common as providing a personal endorsement to someone else who might qualify as a new potential customer or boss. Oh, and this means actually doing so directly, not writing a bunch of canned lullabies on Linked In.

If that all sounds too Pollyanna, then look at it this way: It's not just about my house or his house. It's about OUR house. This is as much a collective leadership message as it is request to act in a greater interest. If nothing else, can we at least set aside the market-based quid pro quo stuff for a couple months?

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