Archives for Branding You

We applaud change agents who triumph over organizational resistance to blaze new territory. And we tend to hear more about successful change agents than we do about the ones booted out of a company.

Former SAP AG executive Shai Agassi was characterized as a failed change agent by the Wall Street Journal last Friday. “I became not only an agitator, but a lightning rod for a lot of things,” Agassi told the Journal. He resigned in late March from his highly visible job as head of product development, apparently frustrated over SAP’s culture.

Agassi should take heart - his departure is an occupational hazard of innovative leaders. A new study by Accompli, a change leadership advisory firm, of 83 change events from 36 companies between 1995-2005 indicates what’s clear is that only a minority of change agents personally profit from the experience, says Bob Gunn, the firm’s co-founder.

Far from an easy payoff, the Accompli study shows that:
*  28% were promoted
*  29% were terminated
*  43% received a lateral move

Once considered a leading candidate to become CEO of the German software giant, Agassi, who resigned effective April 1^st, reportedly will leave hi-tech to pursue his “interests in alternative energy and climate change,” says Wikipedia. He’s launched a new blog called The Long Tailpipe. Commenting briefly on his departure, Agassi wrote, “In any case, I am sure this will be a fantastic ‘pride adjustment period’ learning how to fly with my own wings, not the borrowed one[s] I got at SAP.”

In a press release announcing Agassi’s departure, Hasso Plattner, Chairman of the SAP Supervisory Board and company founder, said, “Shai drove the company’s successful platform strategy, led innovation that helped SAP grow and continue market leadership, as well as set the stage for the future of business software.” Plattner contends that he offered a co-CEO position to Agassi sometime after 2009, but suggested that Agassi wouldn’t accept that long of a wait.

Gunn, who consults with executive management of large corporate clients, says most executives are either tapped for the job or throw their hat in the ring, often mid-to-late in their career. “The change leaders are typically late 30s to mid 50s,” he says. Often, mid-50s executives will ‘parachute’ into another company knowing that they aren’t going to climb any higher in the company but that the change role is open to them. “You can move on, retire, having made a hell of a contribution,” he says.

Change agents know that what they do is often a thankless task - certain to be met by intransigence, criticism or chilly treatment. It requires a strong ego and resilience to become a serial change agent - corporations tend to resist change and fail to reward the managers who make it happen.  

Editor’s Note: We’re doing the best of My Global Career while your fearless blogger is on the road meeting people with global careers. We will resume our regular blogcasting tomorrow. In the meantime feel free to send along comments, questions and ideas.