Who's the boss?
Leadership change, and the qualities that make for a strong corporate leader have moved into focus.
One of the big themes in Australian business this year has been C-suite renewal, and the qualities that make for a strong corporate leader moved into sharp focus this week. Arguably the most powerful figure in the economy, RBA governor Philip Lowe, will oversee his last monetary policy meeting next Tuesday. And the country's most high profile chief executive, Qantas boss Alan Joyce, will step down in November having already delivered his final profit result.
It's interesting to compare the tenure and trajectories of the two. Lowe only got one seven-year term as RBA governor, while his two predecessors Glenn Stevens and Ian Macfarlane were both in the chair for a decade. Joyce has been in the top job at Qantas for 15 years, roughly double the tenure of his predecessor Geoff Dixon, and well beyond what is considered best practice.
As I wrote in an earlier instalment of The Edition, timing is everything in the business world, and the most astute executives seem to have an innate knack for it. Up until this week it looked like Joyce would pull that off by leaving on a high — Qantas is back in the black — but just before it was hit by some serious financial challenges. That prediction still looks half-accurate. Joyce probably won’t leave on a high, but Vanessa Hudson is still going to have her work cut out for her.
Joyce still deserves credit for steering Qantas back to profitability after the COVID crisis. But after the controversies of the past two weeks, the airline’s already challenged reputation is now in complete tatters. Hudson will have to manage that, plus a fleet renewal program expected to cost upwards of $15 billion
