Harvard Business School Prof: Mark Zuckerberg Unfit To Lead

Former Medtronic CEO turned Harvard Professor Bill George

A well-known leadership prof at Harvard Business School isn’t buying Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of the future nor the likelihood of him leading it.

Bill George, a senior fellow at HBS and the former CEO of Medtronic, believes that Zuckerberg’s mediocre leadership skills are slowly dragging Meta, formerly known as Facebook, toward failure.

“I think Facebook is not going to do well as long as he’s there,” George said on a CNBC program called Make It. “He’s likely one of the reasons so many people are turning away from the company. He’s really lost his way.”

‘I THINK, FRANKLY, THE WEALTH WENT TO HIS HEAD’

George claims that Zuckerberg has surrounded himself with sycophants while falling victim to the “dangers” of “chasing money” and “being the wealthiest guy around.”

For many years, George has held the belief that bosses who lose sight of their most deeply held beliefs, values, and purpose and are instead motivated by money, fame, and power are doomed to fail. He believes that Zuckerberg has done just that,  sacrificing values and ideals in the pursuit of maximum profit. “I think, frankly, the wealth went to his head,” believes George.

The author of True North: Leading Authentically In Today’s Workplace” also said that the departure of HBS MBA Sheryl Sandberg as Zuckerberg’s long-time chief operating officer is another indication of trouble. She officially resigned as the COO in late July after announcing her planned departure two months earlier. She continues to serve as a board member. “He has Sheryl Sandberg there. He had some senior mentors on the board. He pushed them all out.”

ZUCKERBERG: A LONER WHO WON’T ACCEPT HELP, ADVICE OR FEEDBACK

Zuckerberg stayed mum amid the criticism. After all, he is largely credited with the success of one of the most far-reaching businesses in the world. The company he co-founded in 2004 led a revoltion in social media, became a tech giant, and amassed a $450 billion market cap.

George believes that Zuckerberg has become a loner who avoids forming close relationships and pushes others away. Those bosses, he adds, often don’t accept help, advice or feedback, which makes them prone to mistakes.

The HBS fellow also contends that Zuckerberg is a “rationalizer,” the kind of leader who isn’t willing to acknowledge or learn from their mistakes. Instead, they rationalize missteps by placing blame on others.

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