When CEO's Go Bad

I'm still picking my jaw off the ground. Did you see what Northwest Airlines CEO Doug Steenland has decided to award himself? A $26.6 million bonus. It would be one thing if Northwest was on course to fantastic profits. Ah, no, hardly. Mr. Steenland's airline is trying to break out of bankruptcy. What's wrong with this picture? He's taking this massive payday at a time when he has asked his employees to take a 40 percent pay cut over five years to get his books into the black. Mr. Steenland's stock-option gain also stiffs Northwest's investors and creditors. It's simply unconscionable to profit from everyone else's pain like that.

This is a textbook example of what it is for a business leader to NOT be caring or spirit filled, two of the six traits I believe build a strong, honorable company. Back when I had my own business, my bonus plan was no different than management's plan. Mr. Steenland could learn a thing or two from Brad Anderson, the Best Buy CEO who in 2002 actually gave his annual option grants to his Best Buy colleagues. Mr. Anderson has been doing it every year since. There you go, opposite ends of the corporate responsibility spectrum: From Anderson to Steenland.

"$350 Liquor? Just Spreading the Wealth"

Floyd Norris's column (behind the pay wall) in today's New York Times biz section, about high-end hi-balls in Manhattan, made me think about the flip side to the massive growth in incomes and wealth in the U.S. There's a lot of entrepreneurial opportunity here. All this green tells me that suddenly there's a lot more room at the high end of the price-quality-service continuum. Big business, with their steamrolling marketing budgets and capital muscle, is adept at exploiting these niches. But in the age of low-startup costs, thanks to widespread digitization, the little guys and gals can also step in.

Where are the opportunities? High-end personal training? Upscale medical practice? Garbage disposal that's as discreet, bonded and private as a white-glove home cleaning service? Use your imagination.