Bard on Board
from
September/October 2002
by Antonio Ramirez
William Shakespeare, it is often observed, had something to say
about every human experience—and that, with just a little license,
includes the stress and challenges facing board members. Examples:
On the lead director:
He is a great observer and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men.
—Julius Caesar, act 1, scene 2
On watching the CEO as he peruses projected earnings:
Why, what read you there
That hath so cowarded and chased your blood
Out of appearance?
—Henry V, act 2, scene 2
On how top management mishandled the company's 401(k) plan:
Why dost thou abuse
The bounteous largesse given thee to give?
—Sonnet IV
On the likely aftermath of a working lunch:
Unquiet meals make ill digestions.
—The Comedy of Errors, act 5, scene 1
On what accountants are no longer supposed to promise management:
And let us, ciphers to this great account,
On your imaginary forces work.
—Henry V, prologue to act 1
On a successful stock offering:
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
—The Merchant of Venice, act 5, scene 1
On a CEO who never saw a takeover target he didn't like:
A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles.
—The Winter's Tale, act 4, scene 3
On what the Enron board should have said about off-the-books partnerships:
But I of these will wrest an alphabet
And by still practise learn to know thy meaning.
—Titus Andronicus, act 3, scene 2
On somebody else's retirement:
Such are the rich,
That have abundance and enjoy it not.
—Henry IV, Part 2, act 4, scene 4
On your own retirement:
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages.
—Cymbeline, act 4, scene 2
On the investment banker's demand for even higher fees:
Profitless usurer,
Why dost thou use
So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?
—Sonnet IV
