When he first started as a leader, he immediately surrounded himself with former Apple team members, pushing important talent out of the company. Sixty top performing employees that were part of the team before J.C. Penney’s arrival and understood the culture and the clients, were teamed to be part of the iTeam, which brainstormed about ways to improve the company, but they were all laid off, allowing J.C. Penney to lose important …show more content…
He is one of the first African-American to lead a Fortune 500 company and has a law degree. He was a visionary, who joined American Express in 1981, when the company’s top management wanted to shut down the department; he offered to take over its administration. After a few years, had transformed the company and increased sales from $150 to $500 million (Mahayan, 2013). Chenault is a charismatic leader and does not take his position for granted, as he, feels that leadership is a privilege and individuals not performing well should have that privileged taken away (Mahajan, 2013). In an interview, he said that the most important value as a leader is integrity. Rather than blaming others for the challenges that American Express was experiencing, he took ownership of the situation and communicated that the company had to endure changes, which meant that some employees would lose their jobs. He helped the organization by explaining others what was happening (Routson, 2010). Similarly, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks several American Express employees lost their lives, dozens more lost family members, friends, and loved ones. Chenault showed respect and empathy for all the people that were morning (An interview with Kenneth Chenault,