在董事席位爭(zhēng)奪戰(zhàn)敗給對(duì)沖基金經(jīng)理丹?羅伯后，鈴木于上周四宣布辭去Seven &i控股公司,，也就是7-Eleven連鎖店母公司社長(zhǎng)職務(wù)。

但鈴木一點(diǎn)也沒(méi)因?yàn)槭”憩F(xiàn)得懊惱,。他表示,，辭任的決定不能怪罪聲勢(shì)日益高漲的維權(quán)股東、短期效益主義,，跟自己長(zhǎng)時(shí)間職業(yè)生涯也無(wú)關(guān),。鈴木的矛頭只針對(duì)自己。他在新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上簡(jiǎn)單地解釋說(shuō),，辭職的原因是“自己德行不夠,，羞愧難當(dāng)”。

鈴木表示,，他甚至不打算提名繼任者,，還表示自己配不上這個(gè)職位。

來(lái)跟美國(guó)一些知名CEO在動(dòng)蕩之中下臺(tái)的情況比較下,。

杰夫?斯基林突然離開(kāi)安然時(shí)聲稱是出于個(gè)人原因,，和他一手創(chuàng)立的安然已經(jīng)腐敗透了瀕臨倒閉沒(méi)有關(guān)系。斯基林發(fā)布聲明稱：“我要感謝肯?萊理解我完全出于個(gè)人原因辭職,?！辈坏剿膫€(gè)月后，安然破產(chǎn),。五年后,，斯基林入獄。

時(shí)代華納前CEO李文宣布卸任時(shí),，拼命想把美國(guó)在線和時(shí)代華納的合并描述為成功之舉,。但這次合并導(dǎo)致時(shí)代華納的股價(jià)下跌了90%，此后一直被稱為歷史上最糟糕的并購(gòu)案例之一,。李文還表示相信管理團(tuán)隊(duì)的能力,，這又是CEO離任時(shí)的典型說(shuō)辭,。當(dāng)時(shí)，李文表示：“我完全相信,，迪克?帕森斯有能力帶領(lǐng)公司前行,，聯(lián)合各方利益，與戰(zhàn)略伙伴通力合作,，努力實(shí)現(xiàn)遠(yuǎn)大的目標(biāo),。”

雷曼兄弟首席財(cái)務(wù)官艾琳?卡蘭被掃地出門時(shí),，她解釋說(shuō)原因是別處有一份令人激動(dòng)的工作在召喚她,。卡蘭表示：“能加入瑞士瑞信銀行我很激動(dòng),，我很期待和瑞信的優(yōu)秀人才一起工作,。我終于有機(jī)會(huì)回歸本源?！比欢?，她在這個(gè)“令人激動(dòng)”的新職位上只待了不到七個(gè)月。

最經(jīng)典的莫過(guò)于雷神公司CEO丹?伯納姆,。2003年他在接受《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》采訪時(shí)表示,，離職是為了“陪陪家人，教書(shū),，也可能到其他公司擔(dān)任董事”,。三年后，涉嫌造假賬的伯納姆和美國(guó)證券交易委員會(huì)達(dá)成協(xié)議,，繳納罰款并退還175萬(wàn)美元獎(jiǎng)金中的部分,。

這并不是說(shuō)鈴木沒(méi)有任何過(guò)錯(cuò)。顯然,，他曾設(shè)計(jì)把一位可能接替他的高管擠走,。據(jù)報(bào)道，鈴木排擠高管的原因是希望把社長(zhǎng)一職傳給自己的一個(gè)兒子,。這不是什么光彩的事,，但和斯基林在安然的所作所為相比，這簡(jiǎn)直不值一提,。此外,，在美國(guó)，表現(xiàn)比鈴木糟糕得多,，卸任時(shí)一點(diǎn)歉意也沒(méi)有的CEO大有人在,，甚至是不計(jì)其數(shù)。

或許,，要是美國(guó)CEO在辭職時(shí)承認(rèn)錯(cuò)誤成為一種常態(tài),，可能一開(kāi)始他們也就不會(huì)做出讓自己蒙羞的事,。至少最終被迫說(shuō)再見(jiàn)時(shí)，聽(tīng)上去也不會(huì)那么傻,。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Charlie

審校：夏林

U.S. CEOs could learn a thing or two about taking responsibility and expressing humility from Toshifumi Suzuki, the 83-year-old Japanese convenience store mogul. Suzuki, whose Seven & i Holdings is the parent company of the 7-Eleven chain, announced he was resigning as CEO on Thursday after losing a boardroom battle with hedge fund manager Dan Loeb.

But Suzuki was far from a sore loser. He didn’t blame the growing tide of activist investors, short-termism, or a long career for his decision to step down. Instead, Suzuki blamed himself. He simply explained his reason for resigning at a press conference as, “It is my lack of virtue and I am unbearably ashamed.”

Suzuki said he wasn’t going to even try to name a successor. He said he wasn’t worthy of the job.

Compare that to the way some high profile U.S. CEOs exited their jobs amid turmoil.

When Jeff Skilling abruptly exited Enron, he said he was doing so for personal reasons and that it had nothing to do with the fact that he had built a company that was corrupt at its core and on the verge of collapse. “I want to thank Ken Lay for his understanding of this purely personal decision,” Skilling said in a statement. Within four months, Enron was bankrupt. Five years later, Skilling was in jail.

Gerald Levin tried to paint the AOL-Time Warner merger that led to a 90% drop in the company’s stock price and has since been dubbed one of theworst deals in history as a success when he announced his departure from the company. He also said he believed in the strength of his management team—another classic of CEO getaway speeches. “I have the greatest confidence in Dick Parsons’ ability to lead the company forward, coalesce its diverse interests, and work with our strategic partners to achieve our ambitious goals,” he said at the time.

When Lehman Brothers CFO Erin Callan was pushed out, she said she was leaving her employer because an exciting new position had opened up elsewhere. “I’m excited to be joining Credit Suisse and look forward to working with their talented people,” Callan said. “This gives me the opportunity to return to my roots.” She stayed in that “exciting” new job for less than seven months.

And the classic: In 2003, Raytheon CEO Dan Burnham said he was leaving his job to “spend time with his family, teach and possibly become a director on other company boards,” according to theWall Street Journal at the time. Three years later, Burnham agreed to pay a fine and return part of a $1.75 million bonus in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of accounting irregularities.

That’s not to say Suzuki didn’t do anything wrong. Apparently, the CEO tried to remove a fellow executive who was a likely successor. Suzuki reportedly wanted to hand the job to one of his sons instead. That’s not great. But it’s nothing compared to what Skilling did at Enron. Countless other U.S. CEOs have done far worse and left without saying sorry.

Perhaps if it was the norm for U.S. CEOs to fess up to their mistakes when they resign, maybe they would be less willing to try to get away with the kind of behavior they should be ashamed of in the first place. At the very least, they wouldn’t sound as silly when they are finally are forced to say, “Goodbye.”