RELISHING THE ROLE OF CEO MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

People want the CEO role for all kinds of reasons. Many have strained for years to finally get the top job. They want to "win" the role of CEO. Others are brought  to the role from outside from a company where they didn't "win" the role.
Not as satisfying as it might look. Others "accept" the role with a kind of gentle 
humility (whether false or true) and often don't "grab the role by the horns".
Some CEO's like the power and have a kind of mafia swagger to the top position. Most enjoy the perks and the money.  

There is, however, another profile for the CEO that can almost be sensed viscerally. There is the CEO who loves the literal job, loves the business, can't think of another career or work they would be happy doing and continue to be eager to do the job long after hired. This CEO relishes the day to day challenge and feels more alive facing them. Is their ego involved? Of course. Is the winning and money important. Yep. But the truth is that they are the CEO wherever they go. (Ask their spouses!) They will lead. They will create. They will push the envelope. They won't be satisfied. They will fill a room with their presence. They will irritate. You will know they have been in the room.  They will make a difference. Oddly some natural CEO's are not so great at other roles as they move up in an organization. They do best owning the whole ball of wax.

I write this in honor of a colleague  and friend who just became CEO of THE FRESH MARKET and of several others friends/clients in CEO roles now who RELISH the role. They love the good and the bad, the every dayness of it, the cup of coffee of it, the tough Board meeting of it, the fire hose of it. This is the "Duck to Water" CEO. Wanting the job is a huge part of doing it well. Good luck to all the ducks out there.

CHANGE HURTS

There are so many platitudes about change and mistakes that go with them.

'Change is hard but change is good'.
Riiiiight---if you are the changer,not the changee!

'Change is the only constant'.
Doesn't have to be if you hold on to loyalty and values and common culture.

Oh Bah.  Here's the truth.  My truth, my charter for change:

If need for change is created together and the future has some possibility for good and people can hang on to their history (good and bad) and the act of change does not destroy trust in leadership, then it still hurts, BUT it is worth the pain and can be exhilarating and draw people into a powerful unity.

If the above is not true, then change can be seen as:
—abusive
—aggressive
—survival threatening
—victimizing
—nonsensical
—hopeless
—exhausting

Now, go send your people out to do excellent customer service feeling distracted, scared, confused, not understanding what's going on and hopeless.

HIRE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST!!

We do live in incredibly deep and well-defined cultures.

And we don't know them well.  We think we do. 

And organizations are very very very powerful cultures.

The more powerful the culture, the more blind spots exist.

This column-(chapter of some book, some time -there I've admitted it--this is not a blog) is meant to point to the blind spots that happen in the culture of the CEO or top level leaders.  It's based on my experience being an EVP and my observations. Not one bit scientific or pure.

A new business book is out addressing the silos that are created in organizations--THE SILO EFFECT by Gillian Tett-- and the blind spots this creates. This book would have been of deep interest in the late 70's but now seems dated and the solutions are common practice in many companies. (If I am wrong, then I worked for a much more progressive company than I realized.) Her direct data gathering is shallow. 

BUT, two things stick with me:

l. Hire an anthropologist to deeply observe your company at all levels and where the customer meets the business. Not a consultant. Get yourself a field study of your company.

2. Realize that your thinking is probably very limited when it comes to new ideas about structure.  Find a way to play with possibilities.  Using DeBono's method on lateral thinking is a good beginning.  

We are in a time when most organizing structures are not suited for the world as it is today. We need:
—Fluidity 
—The ability to join and leave and join and leave
—Deep understanding of context and strategy for freedom of action without chaos
—A core culture that doesn't rely on a buliding or org chart
—Trust that people don't need to be over-attached to be loyal
—Movement that is not restricted by too many check-lists or reports 
—Talent and initiative not tight accountability efforts to compensate for lack of both

Food for play.

ALL COMPANIES NEED SOOTHING SOMETIME

If that title makes you cringe in its wrongness or softness, you probably are blind to your leadership need for soothing and, in turn, your company's need for soothing as well.  Soothing means "gently calming or reducing pain and discomfort".  Sound better?

As THE top leader or a top leader, you can get so accustomed to the tension and discomfort you carry that you don't see the need for getting things calmed down and reducing organizational pain.

Today's work force is often scared, tired, cranky, and tired of being whipped around by changing strategies, sudden new leadership and profound lack of alignment in their work. And, unbelievably, most just want to do good work without the craziness.  I bet it's true for you too.

What seems to work to soothe when you can't change the dynamics at play?

It is so easy we don't do it. DEEP LISTENING to understand the frustration.
ACKNOWLEDGING the reality of your associates in every way you can.  You don't have to do a huge change to soothe.  You have to 'GET IT'.
You have to EXPLAIN THE PAIN so that people KNOW WHY it is worth living through. It helps if you KNOW YOUR OWN DISCOMFORT so that it doesn't trigger impulse reaction like anger and so you don't begin to disconnect from your people to avoid pain.  

Organizations are a collection of people.  Of course, it creates group emotion or tone.  And so many companies are in pain.  I would call "soothing" a leadership skill.

THE ULTIMATE BUSINESS DILEMMA

Which will it be?
People or productivity?
Command and control or coaching and development?
There are a thousand ways to word that choice and as many instruments to measure it.

The Amazon news of being a harsh culture brings this to the fore again.
When will we give up the dichotomy?

High demand can be exhilarating and exciting or tiring and not sustainable.
Competing with co-workers can be fun and motivating or lethally divisive.
Pushing for improvement every moment can be satisfying or ridiculous
Talking straight can be enlightening and supportive or brutal and defeating
Constant challenge with no pause to reflect or learn can become boringly heavy
Living in fear can motivate, but it is survival behavior kills the x factor of team.

Tough challenges take support of people facing them.
Heavy pressure needs the relief of lightness and humor
Long hours calls for balance of renewal time
Rating people has to involve fairness and, yes, a process. No popularity contest.

Do not even pose the question of which matters most--people or results.
Ask, How can people thrive in a high demand challenging environment?
Then answer that question.
It can be answered.

CEO DROPPINGS

I do hope that you are not blind to the fact that when you travel around and wander about your organization, you always leave something behind that tells who and what you are. So be conscious of what you CHOOSE to leave.

--Inspiration or hopeless burden

--Desire to do better work or a sense that nothing is ever good enough

--Understanding of the big picture for the company or details to drown in

--A sense of "can-do" power or a message of "watch-out"?

--A sense of purpose and hardiness of a kind of flabby "keep at it" vagueness

--Sincere appreciation or fake thank-you's

--Anxiety/fear or energy to take on more 

--Real leading or sham leadership

You are never not leaving behind a trail.

CROSS LEARNING BETWEEN FAMILY AND COMPANY

I used to do a workshop on applying principles of a healthy business to families and the principles of a healthy family to business.  

Having just had a family reunion week of sixteen people, five under seven years  old I am reminded of a few of those cross-principles.

l. Teams, tribes, companies and families need to stop all at the same time every once in a while.  Being under one roof is not enough for connection. We stopped every night before dinner to literally hold hands for 10 seconds in silence and then plan the next day. The kids would remind the adults of "hold still" time. It killed the quality of "a chicken with its head cut off "that makes both work and play frantic.
I think we have lots of frantic organizations. What is a ritual that could make yours hold still for one minute at the same time?  Think virtual.

2. Watch what you start, you may have to do it again and again. This is mostly good. 
Four years ago with the same family group I set up my basement as a game room. It was a rainy week in Maine. I am talking about a cellar with stone walls.  Well, wouldn't you know that this year each grandchild wanted a day with me in the game room rather than at the beach?  So during one of the most beautiful summer weeks in Maine, I was in a dark basement surrounded by laundry and camping equipment playing Shoots and Ladders. 
AND, happy to do it for the ritual of it.

Continuity matters. Building on something that worked once creates good DNA. Don't question why.  Don't change it. Use it. Think about this during mergers.
What odd organizational habit or ritual can provide continuity and comfort?

3. Stories matter mightily. They highlight history and learning and resilience,
special values and qualities. They help us remember why we are willing to gather and stay connected and give extra effort to belonging. (I think this is the very definition of "engagement".) Company stories generate loyalty and grit and pride and laughter. Not a video. No podium. Beer not needed. Ask questions that generate stories.  One that worked for me is, "What was your first day of work like at The Delhaize Group?"  It was meant to be a warm-up and it became a morning activity. Created more unity than the rest of the leadership retreat.

4.  Make up your agenda. Design carefully. And be willing to let it all go if the right thing begins to happen. My family planned all kinds of stuff we didn't do  and fell into magic that emerged--as in when all sixteen people had bubble wands at once and we created a bubble storm. Memorable, spontaneous and not planned.

Watch what works for your family.  Apply to work. Both are people systems.