Leading change in the corporate world is not an easy task. The leader must set a clear vision for the change they plan to make. John Donahoe, the current CEO of eBay, 27 years ago had the vision that he would not live the rest of his life as a consultant with the mega firm Bain. These were his very powerful words at the time, “I will not live the life of a management consultant.” Donahoe embodied self-confidence and determination within his self which helped reach the vision he set 27 years ago. Early off Donahoe expressed his strong leadership traits as a consultant that would eventually help him prepare for his CEO position with eBay.
Donahoe has become a very influential leader as the CEO at eBay. Since his takeover of the company in 2008, he has already revived the organization in many ways. He has lead to organization to increase earnings and stock prices. Shareholders and employees are very pleased with the current direction of the organization. Donahoe recently created a new vision for eBay. John Donahoe plans to make eBay the model company for developing woman executives. Many believe his biggest influence on this is his wife, Eileen, who is a U.S. ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council.
Impacting an organization is what John Donahoe is in business for. As he began his career as a consultant, he is now consulting new way to take eBay over the top with its competitors. Last month eBay held their first ever top women executives conference in San Francisco. Over 200 women from 15 different countries attended the event. During the conference Donahoe stated that he intends to be better than Amazon, Google, and Visa. He visions eBay as the leading organization with women as top level executives. I feel that this is a great transformation for the leadership field and will give many women the opportunity to become top level executives with prestigious organizations.
Do you believe John Donahoe is acting in the best interest of the entire eBay organization with his new vision?
I do think that Donahoe is acting in the best interest of eBay, however, I think that he could lose site of what is best for the company. Being distracted by his vision of having women as top level executives, he could make a bad decision of who to hire because of his goal.
ReplyDeleteVery good point you bring up about him losing sight of what is best for the company. I agree that when he begins emphasizing his importance on woman executives he may not be doing what is in the best interest of eBay's shareholders. This can potentially lead to some internal conflict. He should focus on doing what is best for the entire organization as a whole, although this approach maybe the best. Only time will tell!
ReplyDelete-Sean Gremillion
I agree that Donahoe is acting in the best interest of eBay and I certainly believe that women as leaders is a big deal in today's business world. While we've seen a lot of influential women like Opraph and Michelle Obama, eBay should still be careful not to allow the up and coming powerful women to shadow the male leaders in their organization. Companies that provide equal and fair opportunities for all are what keeps shareholders happy.
ReplyDelete-Christine Burklin
With limited information, this does seem to be a good initiative. However, Donahoe and the rest of his team should be wary of the adverse impact of such an initiative. Why is there no emphasis on minority executives? I feel that it is just as pressing of an issue when staffing organizations.
ReplyDeleteI think that there could be some backlash from some shareholders who have certain stereotypes or prejudices against women, but not a significant amount to drive share prices down.
-Michael Condupa
I believe this is a great opportunity for women. Many companies still believe that women are not as capable as men. I do not think that is a good way to think. There have been many influential women over the years like Oprah, Joyce Meyer, and Hilary Clinton just to name a few. The reason why they are so influential is because they are effective leaders. For example with Joyce Meyer, she is self-confident in her speech, intelligent in words she says, determined in sermons she gives, and sociable among fellow persons. Also, she has integrity by demonstrating trust, respect, and honor. My point is there are women out there who have excellent traits to lead just like men.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Aaron Barton