Get ready for a wild ride following last week's abrupt resignation of Bob Nardelli as Chairman and CEO of Home Depot. This one makes no real business sense so chalk it up to the powerful personalities involved. Hard to see how the "new guy" fits over the long term...
Following is an excerpt from last week's mainstream coverage (Atlanta Journal & Constitution, 1/4/07):
Management experts say Nardelli's driven personality overshadowed his accomplishments at Home Depot. Sales doubled under Nardelli, to more than $81.5 billion, and earnings per share rose more than 140 percent.
"At some point, he turned himself into the story, and there's an old rule in crisis situations: You don't let yourself become the story," said Jeremy Garlington, an Atlanta-based executive coach and managing partner of Point of View LLC. "Under Nardelli, Home Depot had record profits and record revenues, but the stock price was stagnant. It doesn't make sense from a business standpoint ... but business often comes down to personalities and relationships, not figures."
