The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's PÉRALTE C. PAUL reported today (11/14) that  Aflac Chairman and CEO Daniel Amos announced he is giving up his $13 million "golden parachute" which represents the large dollars he would get if he were to leave the company.  

I know nothing about Mr. Amos, but admire his willingness to take responsibility for his leadership actions and is representative, in my opinion, of the attitude of those individuals who have embraced personal responsibility and accountability when it comes to their healthcare.  The insurance industry has taken heat over the years for executive compensation and ‘golden parachutes' are fuel for that fire. 

I am sure this is a mere spit in the bucket of customer costs and delivering shareholder value but it is a gesture of leadership I wish more CEOs of publicly traded companies would emulate.    It always bothers me that top level execs can come into a company that is publicly traded and can be unduly enriched regardless of their actions while there and then again on their way out the door.

If Advertising on SEC football is a metric of success, then Aflac must be doing pretty well under the leadership of Mr. Amos.  Unfortunately, that is my only personal experience with Aflac, but I have to think that duck is moving a lot of that "get hurt and can't work" stuff.    

Executive comp needs to align with a company's performance over an extended period of time and not insult shareholders, employees or customers.  In these challenging economic times, perhaps Mr. Amos' actions will inspire others.  Three quacks to you sir!