Aren’t you tired of Gee?

I just heard the Gee podcast, and I suspect I am the only one who has.

There’s a lot of unsubstantiated junk here. For one, I think it’s silly for Gee to assert that experienced presidents have some sort of advantage over first-time presidents. I would like to see any factual evidence that supports this statement. College presidents are thought to be much more powerful and influential than they in fact are. I can’t imagine The Ohio State will be appreciably different in three years, when Gee is 66, than it is today.

Obviously Gee is clever enough to maintain contacts and to use search firms to his advantage in buzzing around like a promiscuous hummingbird. But let’s also recognize the stupidity of many boards of regents and the real limits of very mature presidents leading amazingly complex and large institutions where the good and bad outcomes are the result of the efforts of a lot of people.

ap, at 10:00 am EDT on July 19, 2007

Gee whiz, follow the money!

Filling presidential slots with sitting presidents is a great business model for executive search firms! They can quickly play off the insecurities of a search committee intent on getting a homerun hitter. As exemplified by the Gee case, it’s quick work, quick ES pay, which is often a % of the first year salary, which of course will be higher for a sitting president. Then, Wa LA! a nice new presidential hole opens up and ES to the rescue!

One more ‘inside baseball’ analogy: historically, ‘homerun kings’ often concurrently hold ’strike-out king’ titles, too!

ATL, at 3:25 pm EDT on July 19, 2007