When executives become a brand name more than the company they manage

At the top of business, in many of our minds, sits an idol — an image that we have of the true business leader.

He is a shrewd and powerful man who never errs and never doubts, who rules on matters wisely and without fuss, delivering hard, but fair decisions.

His No can sweep a year or a department or a project aside at one blow, but this leader always knows what he is doing.

There is always a point, always a reason, and he is always right.

And thank goodness for that.

For when we vest all the power in the ‘perfect figure’ at our head, we render ourselves children in the matter.

We need him to be right — for if he isn’t, he might lead us into bad times.

So our leader MUST be all-knowing and all-seeing. Just as before he came to business, when we had Gods, and then Emperors, and then Emperors who were Gods, and then Kings, and then Presidents, and we had Barons and Governors and Commissioners and Chiefs.

So nowadays we have CEOs. They are the company, and the company is them. And they are HUGE.

Especially here, where our cults of personality are more important than perhaps anywhere in the world.

Take Kenya Airways, and with no offence to Titus Naikuni, but having just this day flown from Nairobi to Amsterdam, he introduced himself as the CEO of Kenya Airways in a trailer on my in-seat screen not once, but four times, built into the preamble of every single multinational movie I opened.

Yet I left the next flight in Europe, on KLM, without the foggiest notion of who the CEO is of that esteemed airline.

I even searched the airline magazine, the Holland Herald, for a clue, having earlier read Titus’ latest opening statement of leadership in the KQ equivalent Msafiri.

But No:  there was KLM, operating seemingly quite without a rallying figurehead.

However do they manage?