The problem of most managers is that they are too focused on achieving short-term goals. To change this habit, Harvard Business Review has released a ranking with the 100 CEOs with the higher productivity of the year, and what they have in common is the pursuit for solid long-term results. The list is at least mover. From financial data, the HBR team calculated the daily returns of the companies over each CEO, from the 1st day he or she took office up to April 30th, 2014. At last, the ranking was based on 1) returns adjusted to the country, 2) returns adjusted to the sector and 3) change in fair value.
Unfortunately, only two women entered the top 100: Debra Cafaro, of Ventas, and Carol Meyrowitz, of TJX. The average length of tenure of the ranked leaders is seven years and their average age, 59 years. Interesting to note that 13 CEOs are of different nationalities of their companies. More than 25% of them have MBA and a similar proportion studied Engineering. In this regard, the headhunter James Citrin ponders: “The engineer stands out for logical problem solving, but would have problems to lead a fashion company or advertising agency, for instance.” It makes sense, huh? Here the top 10 most productive CEOs of the year:
10. William Doyle, PotashCorp
Country: Canada
Sector: Materials
Change in fair value: + US $ 37 billion
Striking deed: In 2013, he led a partnership of PotashCorp with “Free the Children”, an organization that fights for the development of communities in areas with high incidence of child labor and exploitation of children.
9. Mark Donegan, Precision Castparts
Country: USA
Sector: Industrial production
Change in fair value: + US $ 34bn
Striking deed: He donated $ 2.5 million to the La Salle Catholic College Preparatory, a school in Oregon that values the community work of the students.
8. J. Michael Pearson, Valeant Pharmaceuticals
Country: Canada
Sector: Health
Change in fair value: + US $ 44 billion
Striking deed: In 2014, he donated $ 30 million to the Engineering School of Duke University, where he studied.
7. Hugh Grant, Monsanto
Country: USA
Sector: Agribusiness
Change in fair value: + US $ 59 billion
Striking deed: Responsible for the production of 90% of the soybeans grown in the U.S., he acquired the San Francisco Climate Corp, a company of quite accurate local weather forecasts for farmers.
6. Lars Rebien Sørensen, Novo Nordisk
Country: Denmark
Sector: Health
Change in fair value: + US $ 101 billion
Striking deed: Under him, Novo Nordisk invested $ 100 million to create the World Diabetes Foundation and is committed to deliver insulin to 20% of the standard price for developing countries.
5. David Simon, Simon Property Group
Country: USA
Industry: Real estate investment trusts
Change in fair value: + US $ 63 billion
Striking deed: In 2012, employees of Simon Property Group were elected by Bloomberg the most valuable ones, ahead of Apple, who took 3rd place.
4. David Pyott, Allergan
Country: USA
Sector: Health
Change in fair value: $ 50 billion
Striking deed: Since 1998, when he became CEO, Allergan has grown from a small eye-care business to an international pharmaceutical company that earns more than $ 5 billion a year.
3. John Chambers, Cisco Systems
Country: USA
Industry: Information Technology
Change in fair value: + US $ 168 billion
Striking deed: Since 2010, he works for the “Broadband Commission for Digital Development”, that boosts the importance of broadband in the international political agenda to accelerate the progress of society up to 2015.
2. John Martin, Gilead Sciences
Country: USA
Sector: Health
Change in fair value: + US $ 128 billion
Striking deed: The Altripla drug, launched in 2006 by Gilead combining three drugs in one pill, is the most prescribed treatment for HIV in the US.
1. Jeffrey Bezos, Amazon
Country: USA
Sector: Retail
Change in fair value: + US $ 140 billion
Striking deed: Named the best leader of the U.S. by Forbes magazine in 2012, he founded the Amazon in 1994 to be an online bookstore. The company maintained its finances stable for years, until reaching a $ 3.9 billion surplus in 2002.
Does your company can be proud of its productivity as these from the list? If you are not so sure, it’s because there is still where to innovate and improve. Try on a teams and projects online manager, able to increase productivity so that it is as if your team had 1 more working day in the week. Interesting? Try Runrun.it for free: http://runrun.it
Recommended for you:
- Why management influences on productivity?
- The most seen TED Talks about productivity
- 5 books to heal your lack of productivity
