Spitzer's double-standard

Chief Executive, The, June, 2005 by Janice Presser, Donald A. DiFrisco

I don't always get to read all the pages of Chief Executive, but you caught my eye with the reference to Eliot Spitzer. Here's the question I would have liked to throw back at him: If you are sworn to uphold the laws and the U.S. Constitution, etc., why do you make the knee-jerk presumption of CEO guilt? (Good thing you didn't sling back--you could have ended up in his court with RICO charges.)

Misuse of power is misuse of power, whether done in the name of a corporation, a government, a family, a religion, etc. This sounds like a massive case of projective identification to me.

The difference between a functional organization and a dysfunctional one is that functional ones have balance between forward motion and thoughtful restraint. With corporations, the board and executive team at least have the option of diversity of style that would create that balance. (Enron didn't, hence the weak and too-late entry of their whistle-blower.) Government has no such rules.

Most heads of agencies rule with the iron fist they project onto those who work in the private sector, both the managerial CEOs and the entrepreneurial ones. But without the cooperation of the team, nothing good happens in any organization--especially the entrepreneurial ones where people work more for love than immediate compensation. There's no such need in government, where you're forced to prepay, via taxes, for services you may not want, that aren't productive, that are run inefficiently at best and are often dangerous--and where you can't even get the protections afforded a minority shareholder.

Keep up the good work. I learn a lot from you.

Dr. Janice Presser

President & CEO

The Gabriel Institute

Philadelphia

I read your "Editor's Note" in the May 2005 issue. While I agree wholeheartedly with your comments regarding Eliot Spitzer, I cannot help but wonder how you and your magazine justify the CEO of the Year award given to Hank Greenberg two years ago given that so many of the measurement criteria that earned him the title appear to have been fabricated? Is this award worth the risk to the recipient or the publication?

I am the CEO of a small, privately held organization. I do not face the pressures of the public markets. Like the vast majority of my peers at companies of all sizes. I am honest and hard-working for the benefit of our employees, customers, shareholders and the company alike.

Eliot Spitzer was wrong. No question about it. He is playing a political game in response to your opinionated comment, but New York is a great place to do business. Honest CEOs have nothing to "think twice" about. While I deplore the attack made by Spitzer, I do believe your comment was unnecessary and may have been motivated by factors not specifically identified in your article.

Donald A. DiFrisco

President & CEO

Innovative Surveillance Technology

National Intelligence Academy

Coral Springs, Fla.