The worst CEOs of 2014

The worst CEOs of 2014
The toughest thing for any business is to stay on top.
Past success — at any stage — is never a guarantee of continuing success. In fact, my research has shown time and again that great success is almost always a warning sign for failure.
And so it is with the worst CEOs of 2014. In virtually each instance, the seeds of failure were sown in earlier success. These five chief executives were celebrated for their genius at one time, but all have fallen, sometimes in spectacular ways.
Before revealing this year’s list, a little background. For the last 15 years I’ve been studying great, and far-from-great, leaders. My book, Why Smart Executives Fail, was the culmination of an extensive research process that uncovered the most common drivers of failure in organisational life. While the specifics often varied, in the end it was always about human nature.
For the last five years I’ve been publishing my annual list of the worst CEOs of the year (and starting last year an accompanying list of the best CEOs of the year). My research team analyses hundreds of companies to identify the very few that not only reported exceptionally poor financial results, but were also led by a CEO whose actions, or inactions, directly affected those results.
To make sure we have it right, we compare our worst CEO picks to other leaders in the same industry, to gauge relative performance. And while my list is a 2014 list, inevitably some of the decisions and actions of CEOs that earned them their spot can be attributed to previous years, as well.
Now, without further delay, scroll through the images above to see the worst CEOs of 2014.