CEO, HP/HPE – 2011-2017 | President and CEO, eBay – 1998-2008
While Meg Whitman’s six-year spell helming HP/HPE had its ups and downs, it speaks volumes that eight of the 60 channel leaders we approached had her in their top five seven years after her departure.
Once feted as a potential future US president, Whitman’s skills as an orator, alongside her business acumen and passionate channel advocacy, ensured she pulled in the most votes of any female leader in this rundown.
Having stabilised HP, she split the business in two towards the end of her tenure, briefly becoming HPE CEO before resigning in 2017. Before this, Whitman helped grow eBay from $4m to $8bn revenues during a ten-year stint as the online marketplace’s CEO.
She is currently US ambassador to Kenya.
Leadership style
In a 2016 interview with Harvard Business Review, Whitman talked about her focus on “authentic leadership”. “You have to be exactly who you are, because ultimately people will see through you if you’re not leading in an authentic way,” she said.
Low points
If ever a CEO was handed a hospital pass by a predecessor, Whitman’s inheritance of Léo Apotheker’s Autonomy acquisition is it.
Killer quote
“Our industry tends to do a lot of technospeak, to make things more complicated than they need to be. With a company this size, you have to speak clearly and lay out the objectives so that your teams can explain what’s happening to customers and partners and one another.” (taken from this interview)
What our panellists said about Whitman
Justine Cross, Managing Director, EMEA Channels
“I found her as a visionary leader and an engaging speaker, like most, but what was most enthralling to me was her polished ability and intelligence to blend and balance business acumen and politics. I found being in her presence rather captivating. I still follow her role today as US Ambassador to Kenya, a role I’m not surprised she took.”
Alex Smith, Vice President of Channels, Canalys
“Meg Whitman took over HP after a short disastrous stint by Leo Apotheker. HP was an industry and channel stalwart, but the market was losing confidence in a company that was becoming a sluggish giant. Whitman stabilised the ship, and gained confidence back from the partner community. She was one of those executives that was a true ambassador for HP with partners, and knew that one of HP’s competitive moats was its partner community. When HP made the decision to separate its businesses, Whitman knew that partners would be instrumental to that exercise and dedicated significant resources to ensure that partners were involved at every key milestone.”
Joey Hemingbrough, Sales Director, Velocity Consulting
“I nominated Meg Whitman for a top five leader list due to her outstanding leadership and impact on the tech industry. As the former CEO of HPE, she guided the company through major transformations and the split from HP, driving growth and innovation. Meg is also a strong advocate for women in leadership. Her strategic insight, resilience, and dedication to progress make her a standout leader.”
Michelle Cope, Sales Director, Trustco
“Meg shaped tech when women were easy to be ignored.”
How did IT Channel Oxygen compile The Century’s Greatest Vendor Leaders? See here
