Letter to the Editor
The Wall Street Journal
May 11, 2004
'Extraordinary Talent' Is an Executive Myth
I was pleased to see in the April 26 article "Delta Holders Approve Plan on Executive Pension Accounts" that shareholders overcame board opposition at Delta Air Lines concerning executive retention packages.
One of the biggest myths in corporate America is that extraordinary compensation and benefit packages are necessary to retain this "extraordinary talent" and the results "they" produce. These executives and their crony compensation consultants would have you believe there is not enough talent around should these executives leave their positions. Shame on them for this self-serving behavior.
Those of us who have worked for a large corporation know that extraordinary results produced by such a company come from the wealth of talent throughout the organization, and that talent is ready to step up to the plate and fill the gap should a senior executive move on. There are no correlations to support that retention-packaged executives produce extraordinary results.
Hats off to the Delta shareholders.
J.R. Deam
Bartlesville, Okla.
