When politicians say their opinion on a particular subject has “evolved ” you know you’re about to hear a complete flip-flop. I suppose it’s easier than saying “I was wrong. ” Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of a CEO in retail. It’s only natural, really. We’ve seen the [shocking] debacle of Ron Johnson as CEO at JCP, the apparent impending turnaround, (or at least, slowing death spiral) of Best Buy in the hands of Hubert Joly, and Apple falling from the stratosphere in the post-Steve Jobs era. And so, I’m here to say today: “My position has evolved. ” I’ve gone from thinking the average CEO is [mostly] grossly overpaid to thinking “Hey… maybe they really are worth the big bucks when they get it right. “

In fact, our survey respondents re-affirm this point of view in virtually every benchmark RSR runs. As frequent readers know, we use a framework called the “BOOT ” to analyze most topics we write about. I’m not going to delve into the details of the methodology here beyond saying that one of the O’s stands for “Organizational Inhibitors ” and ways to overcome them. Seeing “Senior Management Championing Change ” identified as top-three way to overcome almost any organizational inhibitor has become completely routine. Instead of internalizing this, we’ve considered stopping asking the question. It started getting boring. Um, my position has evolved. This is important. It might be the most important thing.

When I broached the idea of writing on this topic to my partners at RSR, we had our own stimulating exchange on the subject. Part of my ‘evolution’ is that the “Rock Star CEO ” is entitled to obscene compensation, but only if it is tied to results. That is what I broached to the team. Let’s see what some of the partners had to say:

Nikki Baird: “I don’t have a problem with that line of thinking. The only thing I’d throw out there is, what about the measure of risk for taking on the job? A lot of companies, when they take on a rock star CEO, are doing so because they need big changes. There’s always the risk that the organization (or the board) doesn’t listen. Sometimes it takes an eye-watering paycheck to get someone to sign up for a company headed downhill already, and sometimes it takes that size paycheck to get the board to take them seriously – and sometimes even with all that, the rock star still doesn’t pan out, and/or the company refuses to change. Sometimes it’s not all about company performance; it’s about getting anyone who stands a chance of success to agree to take the job. ” (My note: is that what happened at Sears? How did being the CEO of the 27^th largest retailer in the world and 12^th largest in the US become a part-time hobby [compensation set at $1 a year]? It remains beyond my understanding. As an unnamed analyst friend has said “This might be the most expensive $1 Sears has ever spent. “)

Brian Kilcourse: “I think the issue is ‘CEO as manager’ vs. ‘CEO as leader’. CEO’s should be leaders, in my opion, and that implies that they must be good at two things. First, they have to have a vision that people can get behind. Then, they have to put a team in place that includes great managers. I always think about Dwight Eisenhower – the ‘CEO of the European theatre’. There’s a picture of him talking to some troopers who are loading onto ships for the D-Day invasion, and you just know that several of those guys are going to die. But they all are hanging on the general’s every word. They so believed in his vision that they were willing to hurl themselves at the enemy. That’s what a CEO can do. But it turns out that crafting the vision ain’t easy, and most people aren’t very good at it at all. As for the team, you can always tell when a CEO hasn’t done that – a few signs include, the CEO as a ‘shirt sleeves’ kinda guy, taking credit instead of giving it to the team, and poor results. “

We tossed around various names that are just too gossipy to discuss here (I’ve written and deleted entire paragraphs three times already!). As usual, we came to no real consensus – that’s why we call ourselves “The candid voice in retail research. ” We just don’t have any corporate line to tow. Still we do all agree that the CEO can make an enormous difference and should be rewarded handsomely when that difference goes to the good.

My goodness, I have a lot of friends who aren’t going to like this piece. I’ve moved far to the right of “Occupy Retail “. But you just can’t deny what’s right in front of your eyes. There are individuals with the rare vision and talent to infuse a company with greatness. If you’re lucky enough to work for one, don’t try to BE one. Just enjoy him or her. And reap the rewards from success.

Go ahead, drop me a line. You know where to find me: prosenblum@rsrresearch.com. Send me your point of view. I promise to respond.