I applied for the CEO position...

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Very very well written letter! Good luck on getting the job, and someone like you is who I sincerely hope gets the job. I pretty much agree with everything you said.

[swoods]

So, ~WHY~ do you want the job? Aside from your introduction to the hobby I didn't see anything relating to the criterion that GW recruits. This and it does come across somewhat negatively.

Otherwise it was quite a well written letter (although it may benefit from some paragraph formatting).

Well done for having the stones to apply! Good luck!

[davethepak]

Duplicate post removed.

[davethepak]

I had typed a reply...but got lost...oh well.

First of all, kudos to you for applying, it can be very terrifying....not just the rejection, but the job as well!
(anyone who is not terrified about being a CEO has no idea what they do....).

A few things;

I think your letter demonstrates that you have ideas on what GW is doing wrong, and what you would do to address those issues.
- I think you are spot on; both on some of the issues, but also on ways to address them.

The challenge of course, is does the board want or even care about these things?

I have applied for the same job, and spent many many hours considering what to really put in my letter.
It was not easy - and I am already a very highly skilled business professional who works with corporate officers regularly (oh, and a gamer).

Sure, kirby said attitude matters most, and we won't even look at your CV! (The UK version of a resume, with some minor differences).

However, there are many potential things I had to consider with this;

1 - Kirby is leaving (will he still be chairman? or even on the board?). Was he fired? Maybe. Or is he just trying to cash out when he can? Hard to tell, even with pouring over the recent corporate meeting results.
2 - What does the board think? Did they agree with kirby, or do they think this was part of the problem? Again, hard to tell - even with researching every single board member (one of them is even a professor) I could not come up with a solid answer.

The GW post asks why you want the job...not how you would "fix" the company.
Granted, I think many of your thoughts on what is "broken" and how to "fix" them are shared by many gamers out there who pay attention to how the successful companies today leverage social media and focus on the customer.

But the big question is; Does the board think the company (or rather, their policies) are broken? Or do they think it was just kirby?
Traditionally board members are not involved (even remotely) with many of the things which many feel (including me) which are hurting GW.

In fact, while I believe the culture of ignoring the customer has come from the top....many of the things you mention (again, which I agree with) are more of a product manager level, or director rather than a CEO - will the board be impressed with the product and market knowledge (which I think they need more of), or think its just the rambling of a "player". I.have.no.idea.

Again, kudos to you in applying - maybe if we both get an interview we can discuss it on the train - (Looks like going into LHR tube to london, then line to NHS is the best route).

Regardless of who gets the job, but lets hope they have the skills, insight and power to implement real change and make GW customer focused AND profitable - as just one, will not cut it.

Dave pak

[Wolfshade]

This isn't 40k general...

[daboarder]

This won't, its a business, not a government and so has no mandate to listen to the people no matter how stupid their ideas are unlike a government. GW don't have to listen to the will of the people if the people would run them into the ground in a heartbeat with thier half grasped ideas of how they think a business should work.

Ha, yeah, so the current australian government has exactly been listening to people either.....

[lordbrooks]

Thanks for the feedback folks! I of course didn't think that I would be getting a callback, just wanted to write an oldman letter, thought they might actually read these things. As a core gamer, it was hard to stay even a little positive, because the customer non-centric attitude is pretty rough. If we come across as people, maybe they'll treat us as such....

[Gothmog]

I think, whether you get the job or not, it showed a basic understanding of where businesses in general are going and what needs to happen specifically with GW. This one letter may not implement any change, but a flood of letters as well written and thought out as this may convince someone, somewhere, that the customers may actually be onto something...

[40kGamer]

I think you're underestimating how hard being a CEO is, especially since martini luncheons went out of fashion...

Which is why I quite happily stay at the CFO level. No way in hell do I want to deal with the operational and PR crap the CEO deals with... plus the pay is essentially the same.

- - - Updated - - -

This won't, its a business, not a government and so has no mandate to listen to the people no matter how stupid their ideas are unlike a government. GW don't have to listen to the will of the people if the people would run them into the ground in a heartbeat with thier half grasped ideas of how they think a business should work.

Where are you living that the government gives two pence for what the public think? And actually successful businesses do listen to what their customer base wants. Building a business plan without knowing your customers is a really good way to shoot yourself in the foot.