When Liam McGee departed as president of Bank of America in August, his explanation was surprisingly straight up. Rather than cloaking his exit in the usual vague excuses, he came right out and said he was leaving “to pursue my goal of running a company.” Broadcasting his ambition was “very much my decision,” McGee says. Within two weeks, he was talking for the first time with the board of Hartford Financial Services Group, which named him CEO and chairman on September 29.

    McGee says leaving without a position lined up gave him time to reflect on what kind of company he wanted to run. It also sent a clear message to the outside world about his aspirations. And McGee isn’t alone. In recent weeks the No.2 executives at Avon and American Express quit with the explanation that they were looking for a CEO post. As boards scrutinize succession plans in response to shareholder pressure, executives who don’t get the nod also may wish to move on. A turbulent business environment also has senior managers cautious of letting vague pronouncements cloud their reputations.

    As the first signs of recovery begin to take hold, deputy chiefs may be more willing to make the jump without a net. In the third quarter, CEO turnover was down 23% from a year ago as nervous boards stuck with the leaders they had, according to Liberum Research. As the economy picks up, opportunities will abound for aspiring leaders.

    The decision to quit a senior position to look for a better one is unconventional. For years executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO candidates are the ones who must be poached. Says Korn/Ferry senior partner Dennis Carey: “I can’t think of a single search I’ve done where a board has not instructed me to look at sitting CEOs first.”

    Those who jumped without a job haven’t always landed in top positions quickly. Ellen Marram quit as chief of Tropicana a decade age, saying she wanted to be a CEO. It was a year before she became head of a tiny Internet-based commodities exchange. Robert Willumstad left Citigroup in 2005 with ambitions to be a CEO. He finally took that post at a major financial institution three years later.

    Many recruiters say the old disgrace is fading for top performers. The financial crisis has made it more acceptable to be between jobs or to leave a bad one. “The traditional rule was it’s safer to stay where you are, but that’s been fundamentally inverted,” says one headhunter. “The people who’ve been hurt the worst are those who’ve stayed too long.”

答案精析：根据题干定位至原文第四段第二句。前面指出离职以look for a better one（追求更好职位）是unconventional（不符合惯例的），也就是说惯例应该是不主动去追求职位。第二句指出，高管和猎头for years（多年来）坚持的原则是最受欢迎的CEO候选人必须是poached，也就是说poached指的是一种遵循惯例的做法，是和主动寻求职位是相反的含义，故C选项为正确答案。

错项排除：A选项属于根据常识设置的干扰项，在原文并无体现，故错误。B、D选项带入原文不能使上下文语义连贯，没有逻辑关系，故错误。

长难句分析：For years executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO candidates are the ones who must be poached.

本句属于复合句，句子主干是executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule，为主谓宾结构。For years为时间状语。that引导的从句为同位语从句，解释rule的详细内容，其中嵌套了who引导的定语从句，修饰同位语从句的表语the ones。

句意为：多年来，高管和猎头们始终坚持一个原则：最具吸引力的首席执行官人选是那些需要去挖来的人。