May 31, 2025 / VOLUME NO. 368

The Quality You Can't Coach

The retailer Kohl’s Corp. early this month announced it had fired CEO Ashley Buchanan after just a few months on the job for not disclosing a romantic relationship with a vendor.

Media reports said the CEO had directed the company to sign a multimillion-dollar consulting contract with Boston Consulting Group, where his romantic partner was an adviser. In stores, he orchestrated the sale of her “wellness” coffee infused with supplements such as collagen and melatonin. 

The mixture didn’t appeal to Kohl’s chairman, who reportedly met with the CEO and commissioned an investigation by an outside law firm, overseen by the audit committee. The board then fired Buchanan. 

It wasn’t the first CEO scandal for a Fortune 500 company. A McDonald’s Corp. CEO lost his job in 2019 for violating company policies prohibiting dating or sexual relationships with direct or indirect reports. In 2021, he settled in a lawsuit with the company that accused him of having sexual relationships with multiple McDonald’s employees. In a statement at the time, he apologized.

The world’s most famous investor, Warren Buffett, places a high value on character. “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy,” he was quoted as saying in the Omaha World-Herald in 1994. “And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”

Finding the right CEO is incredibly difficult. Banks usually want an internal candidate to take on the role, but it takes years to develop someone into the job. Not everyone percolates upward. Around a quarter of respondents to Bank Director’s 2025 Compensation & Talent Survey admit that their bank has hired or promoted a candidate at the C-suite level who turned out to be a poor fit within the past five years. The survey, sponsored by Chartwell Partners, publishes on BankDirector.com June 16.

Luckily, many required leadership skills are coachable, according to Julie Bell, who heads Chartwell Partners’ leadership advisory services. An executive can improve communication skills, executive presence, teamwork and accountability. He or she can learn how to develop people. 

But some qualities are tough to coach, such as decisiveness and analytical skills, Bell said at Bank Director’s Acquire or Be Acquired Conference in January. And it’s downright impossible to coach vision and integrity. “You may know someone who can do that. I don’t do that,” she said. 

• Naomi Snyder, editor-in-chief for Bank Director

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“Whatever happens with regulatory expectations, what an AML officer and their team is dealing with every day — cybercrime, ransomware, sophisticated elder abuse scams — is getting way more complex.” — Ashley Farrell, Baker Tilly

• Laura Alix, director of research for Bank Director

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About Bank Director

Bank Director provides research, peer-insight and executive and board services to the financial industry. CEOs, CFOs, Chairs and leadership teams at financial institutions, fintechs and financial services firms turn to Bank Director to keep pace with their ever-evolving business landscape.