In this time and age, it would be wise to stay away from CEO's as government leaders...

[badtoworse]

20. A corporation's purpose is to get the best returns on the shareholders investment.

Why do you think the investors put their money in it? It doesn't matter whether the shareholders are wealthy or not; they all expect management to act in their best interests. That usually means maximizing profits and a CEO is supposed to lead that effort. It doesn't play well on DU, but that is the way the business world is structured.

A principled person moving from a leadership position in private industry to a leadership position in government would recgnize that he has a different constituency and act in the best interests of his new constituency. A skilled executive that does that could be very effective as a government leader.

BTW, how many CEO's do you know? I've worked with 5 long enough to know them well. Three were talented, natural leaders that in my opinion, would be equally effective in the government (if they could be persuaded to go there). Those three all have integrity and politically, one was a liberal Democrat, one was a conservative Republican and the third a more moderate Republican. One CEO was a low life scumbag that I wouldn't trust for a minute. The last one was an empty suit that wasn't to be trusted either. One Democrat and one Republican there.

You really can't generalize. Some are good people; some aren't.