His predecessor didn't introduce him to many regulators or politicians, leaving him less prepared than he should have been to face the era of deregulation. Mr. McNeill says he was more than halfway through his five-year tenure as No. 2 before he asserted himself and got to cement personal ties with board members. At Olsten, Mr. Blechschmidt felt he had little opportunity to nurture board relationships. He became chief executive of the staffing-services concern in February 1999, only four months after being hired as president and chief operating officer. Wall Street analysts who followed Olsten also didn't know Mr. Blechschmidt while he was president and operating chief because its chief financial officer handled investor relations.
Knowledge gaps make it harder on everyone when a new CEO takes the helm.
Throughout Mr. Newman's nearly three years as Eckerd president and chief operating officer, his boss Stewart Turley let him run everything except financial, legal and personnel matters. Mr. Blechschmidt wishes he had learned about handling corporate communications when he was Olsten's No. 2. And second bananas have to be able to transfer experiences to those areas they don't know much about, Mr. McNeill observes. It is very lonely being CEO because everyone you come in daily contact with is working for you. Mr. Newman's seven years running a smaller drugstore chain eased his transition to the helm of Eckerd.