Sterile Hybrids

“Credit turmoil has claimed two scalps on Wall Street in a week -- and exposed the shortage of talent for the biggest jobs in finance.

“Both Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. saw troubled chief executives hastily depart as write-downs fueled by losses on mortgage- related securities spiraled near $10 billion. Neither had a ready replacement, forcing them to get by with interim arrangements as the search for successors is conducted.

“The dearth of CEO material owes much to the Wall Street culture in which executives are pushed to maximize profits and quickly get axed if they fail to deliver. That sullies the resumes of many would-be chiefs. What's more, most Wall Street firms are now global publicly held companies, not the private partnerships of yore, meaning a CEO must be skilled both in presenting the public face of a company and understanding the nitty-gritty of finance.

“‘It's a weird state of affairs that these phenomenal global companies can't self-reproduce executives,’ says Glenn Schorr, a financial services analyst at UBS AG. ‘It is a function of the culture and the leadership or lack of leadership’ at each firm, he says.

“Boards at Citigroup and Merrill are likely to look outside their firms for successors.”

(“In Citi Shake-Up, Broader Troubles; Perform-or-Die Culture Leaves Thin Talent Pool For Top Wall Street Jobs.” Aaron Lucchetti and Monica Langley. Wall Street Journal: November 5, 2007. pg. A.1)

PHENOMENAL complexity certainly leads to unprecedented uncertainty, and incredible impotence. We reap what we sow.