Check Your Ego, Future Port Director

Reinhart, new VPA CEO? 

That’s a requirement for the new CEO of the Virginia Port Authority.

In the CEO posting by executive search firm Boyden, the new CEO must “be in control of one’s ego.”

That’s good advice, especially for someone such as John Reinhart, who announced his retirement from Maersk Line Limited after 23 years.

He will retire, effective January 31, 2014.

Reinhart, a veteran of the shipping business, could be the next CEO of the Virginia Port Authority, according to several sources. 

Who else would risk his career to manage the Virginia Port Authority, a political subdivision of the state, and Virginia International Terminals Inc., a not-for-profit organization to manage the state-owned terminals?

Another potential candidate could be J. Stanley Payne, a native Virginian and the former General Counsel of the Port Authority over 15 years ago.

Payne, an attorney by education and practice, has sought the scepter of the VPA since he departed.

Or Stan Payne, the VPA's former General Counsel ? 

The Port Canaveral board of commissioners fired Payne March 27, who served as CEO, COO and General Counsel of Port Canaveral, according to Florida Today and the Orlando Business Journal.

Payne, whose performance was reviewed by the Canaveral Port Authority during its meeting March 27, was criticized for an average annual personnel turnover rate of 25 percent by Port Authority Chairman Tom Weinberg in a memo to fellow commissioners, according to the Orlando Business Journal.

Payne’s Linkedin profile says he is a management consultant on the Melbourne, Florida area.

Rarely have I seen a requirement in a job announcement to check one’s ego.

It tells me that the VPA board of commissioners wants a “Yes” man. Payne, whose humility is just a notch below the humility of Joe Dorto, the former CEO of VIT, might not really fit into the square peg the commissioners have molded.

Nor do I think many of the maritime executives that I know, or have known, will bow deeply and genuflect to a board whose claims to lead are based on generous donations to Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican.

Unless they have nothing to lose – such as Reinhart.

Editor's Note: The VPA board of commissioners is expected to announce the new CEO Oct. 31.