A Clinical Method for Predicting Leadership: Part 4
Company and Operating Executive Characteristics
Exhibit 2 summarizes information regarding the companies included in this study. The companies fell into three industry groupings: distribution; industrial products; and business and consumer services. The nature of investors’ involvement fell into three main categories: growth (six); recapitalization (one); and revitalization (one). The first company, conceived as an acquisition vehicle, had not yet made its first acquisition at the time we assessed the CEO. The other companies ranged from approximately $70 million to $450 million in revenues.
The sample comprised nine married Caucasian men. Each had at least a college degree. The mean age was 48 years, ranging from 37 to 58 years. Overall, the sample included five CEOs, one CFO, two vice presidents of sales and marketing, and one vice president of product distribution. Of the five CEOs, two were first time. Three executives, including one CEO, were founders.
By Leslie S. Pratch
About the Author
Leslie S. Pratch is the founder and CEO of Pratch & Company. A clinical psychologist and MBA, she advises private equity investors, management committees and Boards of Directors of public and privately held companies whether the executives being considered to lead companies possess the psychological resources and personality strengths needed to succeed. In her recently published book, Looks Good on Paper? (Columbia University Press, 2014), she shares insights from more than twenty years of executive evaluations and offers an empirically based approach to identify executives who will be effective within organisations — and to flag those who will ultimately very likely fail — by evaluating aspects of personality and character that are hidden beneath the surface.
