CEOs are well intentioned lying primates

• 05 jul 2014
• 0 Comments
• ceo, cees kools, primate, collapse, financial

Cees Kools researched the real causes of the financial crisis. Prior to his appointment as professor to the Tilburg University, he researched sixteen American banks; eight of those collapsed during the crisis and eight banks did not. His research shows that there is a correlation between good governance and personal background. Kools found out that good governance (at the bank) was mirrored by good governance at home. In other words: a CEO that showed a track record of instability at home, for example by a divorce, was one:one mirrored by the collapse of the bank.
Cools conclusion is fascinating but does not surprise me at all. What surprises me is the question: why did Kools decide to research this specific question? Or did he hit on this question during a drinking brawl with a number of friends and subsequently decided to spent some time on checking, testing and confirming his assumption? I will probably never find out.
His research nevertheless shows that good governance doesn’t start nor stop at your own front door. It is an illustration of an intrinsic, well-balanced sense of morality about what good business is all about. Something that is obviously and predominantly missing in the financial sector.
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