You Built It, Now Run It: When SVPs Have to Step In and Run What They've Built...

Interesting stuff going on in the sports world related to recruiting, talent and finding the right leader for your organization.  By now, you know the Notre Dame saga, where Charlie Weiss is being fired, with six years remaining on his contract, at a nice tidy sum of 18M (that's million for you Dr. Evil fans out there).  The nice thing is that the Notre Dame Athletic Director can make it sound like a death in the family when he talks about the decision and how much respect he has for the guy he's firing:

"“We have great expectations for our football program, and we have not been able to meet those expectations,” Notre Dame’s athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, said in a news release. “As an alumnus, Charlie understands those goals and expectations better than most, and he’s as disappointed as anyone that we have not achieved the desired results.”

Here's what I find interesting in parallel to the business world.  When a SVP makes a critical hire and it doesn't work out, the process is usually pretty similar to what's going on at Notre Dame (minus the public scrutiny).  The SVP makes a tough decision, then dials up a search firm and starts the process of backfilling the spot in question.

BUT WAIT: In a down economy, companies haven't been so quick to allow the SVP or senior executive in question to backfill the spot.  When the backfill doesn't happen, it's usually for one or two reasons, or a combination of both reasons:

1.  Money is tight.  The company wants to hold the backfill before they hire again; and/or

2.  The senior executive in question was the architect of many of the organizational details for which he held the fired executive/manager accountable. 

Point #2 is pretty interesting.  If the SVP in question had the battle plan, called many of the shots and is now holding the fired manager/executive in question accountable, guess what's happening more and more often?  The following conversation:

"Mike, I know you thought it was the right thing to do to let Jim go.  Before we backfill the spot, I'm interested in seeing what you can do with the team since we built the organization based on many of the things that worked for you so well at ACME.  Let's plan on you sitting in as the acting executive for that Division/Department for the next two to three quarters and turning it around."

Translation:  You built it, now run it and prove it can work.

As always, sports provides a lot of visibility into managerial theory.  The New Jersey Nets of pro basketball just fired their coach, Lawrence Frank, after a long, successful run.  Rather than move to backfill the spot, they're putting their equivalent of the SVP, General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe, into the coaching role for the remainder of the season:

"Combining a soft voice with hard arguments, Kiki Vandeweghe made his case for trading Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter during the past 19 turbulent months, and then helped Nets president Rod Thorn expedite the rebuilding process by getting young talent in return for their gigantic contracts.

Now, with the team’s rebuilding phase stuck in a record-tying, 0-17 quagmire, Thorn figures the general manager who brought the younger players to New Jersey should be responsible for getting them to grow up a little faster.

The 51-year-old Vandeweghe has never been a coach, and team officials who are not authorized to speak for the Nets say he was initially reluctant to take the job. But Thorn mandated that Vandeweghe occupy that role, if only because his imprint on the roster is indelible, as he is especially close to Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian and Courtney Lee – the three young players acquired for Kidd, Jefferson and Carter."

Translation:  Thanks for building it.  Prove the plan is better than 0-17.  Just like we're seeing more and more often in the business world in a bad economy.

Good luck Kiki.

Comments

[Tim Sackett]

KD -

I think you're right. More and more in the business world you are seeing less backfill, and more step up to the plate and show you can actually get it done. We know this is primarily a cost savings issue at this point in the economy - but it does lend itself to some interesting management decisions taking place all over the economy right now.

I actually agree with this to a point - many times star players are promoted into exec roles - having them get back into the game might work out in many cases - if the person going back actually had the skills to begin with. I question that in the Nets situation.