SOFT SPOT FOR THE CEO

I have a soft spot for the CEO role. Even as I write that, I cringe because there are quite a few lousy borderline evil CEO's that live up to the stereotype of greedy, ego maniacal, ruthless, cruel, usurious, power abusing crazies.
I'm sure you can name one.  Just don't be one.

Here's why I have a soft spot for CEO's:

--They are not power hungry but they have to build, garner, and use BIG power in order to get big things done. Power is the energy to make it happen.  It can become addictive and needs to be monitored but it has to be BIG

--They do have to exist on a different plane from their employees and even their own direct reports.  They are facing out from the company, protecting it from events that can kill it, searching for new paths to grow, watching for all kinds of risk, scanning the future not managing the present --that belongs to a different role.  So the CEO can look and is distant and aloof by definition of the job.

--They have to be willing to never win the race but to keep on running.  They may enjoy a milestone or two but never ever reach a finish line.

--They have to dig to find a path of optimism and future hope for their enterprise and this is very different from simply projecting optimism. They must constantly explore for a new path.

--They have to continually right size their egos which can be tough when they must also allow the organization to project larger than life attributes to them.
People want the leader to be like them and also very not like them--bigger, better, smarter, kinder, impossibly perfect.

--They have to always be making someone very very unhappy.  

--They have to eat and be eaten by their work

Do they "have to" do all of the above?  Maybe not all of the time, but they HAVE TO wrestle with these "have to's".  That I know.  

PROGRESS OR A SERIES OF FALSE STARTS MIMICKING PROGRESS???

I don't mean that question to be flippant, but I keep seeing companies being put on hold or paralyzed while there is major maneuvering going on at the top (EC, Board and partnerships).  Notice that I said maneuvering, not progressing or moving forward  but engaged at a different level of concern than the day to day business. 

While your EC and Board are actually creating a new game for the company to play, your people at work touching customers are playing the old game. And they like it better. New concepts, strategy, new processes don't make  people happy or hopeful. They want the freedom to help customers, to trust that sequestered leaders have them in mind and the knowledge that  company momentum will start again.

What's my point?
--The work at the top can be as slow as a chess game with lots of pause for thought and adjustment.
--Work that touches the customer must be nimble and active.
--When the top group turns their attention to the outside demands (very justified) the average employee experiences a void of energy and direction.
--If your company has had many such new starts, they can be seen as false starts and caution and fear and passivity become the norm.

Make sure that you have top level leaders devoted to the everyday business with relentless focus while the rest work on what is yet to come.  Reward these leaders with big bonuses for keeping things going with a full head of steam.  Don't let the flow of your business get paralyzed by the uncertainty of new direction. Keep the energy moving.

FOLLOWING MY OWN ADVICE

I am stepping off my normal schedule for travel and study.
I'll see you again on after April 1st.

I leave you with this almost full thought.
Try full focus on your direct reports.
Ignore all else.
Get them right and so much else will follow.
Hire right
Let go if needed
Be explicit about your mandate for each
Teach, coach, correct
Practice with them
Go nuts when they do well.  Give explicit praise
Don't punish
Notice what works and push that
Know who they are and what goes on in their lives

All else will come right

SAYING 'NO' WELL IS A MUCH NEEDED CEO SKILL

I am intrigued about the less commonly understood leadership skills that belong only or mostly to the CEO role.  Saying 'no' is one of these.

There is a dynamic similar to seeking the audience of the Queen or King that exists in our organizations no matter how we try to minimize it.  We may try to involve people and empower leaders  and flatten the organization but as long as our structures end up with one person in charge of the whole, the CEO is the ultimate power.

And so the CEO has to say 'no' most of the time and has to learn to say 'no' with skill.

There are huge 'no's that are said often and loudly and with exaggeration.  These have to do with strategy, culture and values.  Big, loud, speeches teach what people are supposed to say NO to in order to keep the organizational message clear enough to guide behavior at all levels.  The same is true for culture and values.  The CEO models every yes and no for these important mega issues.  Expensive wine at meeting dinners?  Yes or NO?
Embellishing the story just a little for an analyst call? Yes or NO.  Taking time for a large level of involvement in a decision?  Yes or NO?

And there are constant smaller 'no's' to deliver. A 'no' is often heard and remembered  better than a 'yes' which is why the myriad of smaller 'no's you must deliver need to have a level of finesse.  How many 'make nice' meetings can you tolerate? Certainly not all that are requested. How many outside speaking engagements can you make? How many times can you say yes when asked "Do you have a minute?"

 The art of disguising a "no" as a kind of 'yes' matters.  YES I will meet with you by phone (which is a 'no' to lunch).  YES I'd love to speak but better yet my SVP is closer to the topic at hand (which is so 'no' in actuality) Every CEO figures out their own strategy for saying 'no'. Another is to walk into other peoples' offices so you can leave when you want is a 'no' to giving to much time to something. Staying standing when someone comes in your door is a nice 'no'.

Think finesse, not sledge hammer. Most importantly, know when you are saying  
NO and know the impact of the negative, whether good or bad. 

INTEGRITY HOLDS STEAD OR IT ISN'T INTEGRITY

I want any leader who reads this to be one of integrity, which is not easy.
I'm sure you know how to hold your ground for moral principles and take whatever fallout comes IF only you could be sure of which choice holds the greatest good for the greatest number. And even that guideline can be wrong.
Integrity can be tricky.

Having integrity also means being coherent internally. You have matured and have your own moral compass that rings true over time. You can be leaned into.
People can predict your decisions.  A poll would rate you as "fair". You are not a product of marketing or schmoozing with the right people. You have your own lodestar that guides you regardless of external events. Authenticity can be mistaken for integrity which is why some crude, blunderbuss people can be refreshing in their own way. They ring true, but they are not true.

INTEGRITY CHECK-UP

Can you take some damage to your self-interest for the good of the company?

Do you take time to check on fair hiring and firing process by coming in close as needed?

Would you be peaceful with your discussions and decisions being shared throughout the company (barring the usual insider stuff)?

Do you let pragmatism win over principle and begin to not know the difference?

Is there a leadership principle that if betrayed,  would make you walk away from your job?

Do you realize when you have allowed your principles to be eroded?

What is your personal warning system that tells you to double check your integrity.

Are you the same person on stage and off stage?

Can you state your top three principles for business? Do you teach them?

Do people want to be (not do) better after you have been with them?

Have you had the relief and freedom and achievement from working with a leader of integrity? Lucky you.  Do that.

BLIND SPOTS CAN BE LETHAL!

I started writing this column to fine tune the CEO role on some of the blind spots that develop as leaders move into the top role. I focus on the reminders that make a CEO more effective in all kinds of ways.

But I want to say to those of you in leadership, that some of your blind spots are
lethal when they become a purposeful denial of another person's reality, a refusal to see a different point of view. It makes your job harder to see and understand someone or something you don't like, that you abhor. The need is to see it fully and then base your decisions and actions on a full view of the many sides of any position of stance. Then throw in a bit of compassion for the heck of it, knowing that tolerance does make the world go around. I mean that as a very pragmatic statement.

How to smell your own blind spot?
With great difficulty.

Here are indications:
—You absolutely know know know know know you are right.

—You use the word 'hate" about a group of people or about a topic

—You avoid talking about certain topics of discussion and will not listen except to placate

—You do talk about your hot topic but only with people who agree with you
already. Then you talk incessantly about it.

—You see certain others as fundamentally wrong.

There is great wrong going on in our world. Acknowledging your blind spot doesn't fix everything. It shows you have the beginning of wisdom and the art and difficulty of leading with your eyes wide open

THE ART OF THE DEADLINE

New Year's resolutions brought these thoughts to mind for CEO's.

—You are the gatekeeper of deadlines for your company. Did you know that?
Even when outside pressures seem to make them for you, it it your job to manage the timing of the organizational response.

—Deadlines create organizational stress to perform or relax. You need to 
know which is needed and when.  And YES, relaxation is needed by an organization--breaks, celebration, new learning, vacations, time to literally breathe. And demand is needed as well to propel needed performance. And YOU have to know when and how to make both happen with the right deadlines.

—What if New Year's day came once a week. It could. It's all arbitrary. Why not.
All those new resolutions, hope, and FAILURE.  A constant atmosphere of deadline chaos dilutes company strength and performance. 

—We suffer not so much from multi-tasking as we do from multi-goaling.
Too many goals, too many super tight deadlines (that eventually get moved creating lack of belief in any deadline)

—We tend to mistake 'urgency' for results. I had a son who was high performing in results (grades, sports, etc) but always got low scores in "effort".
When I semi-chastised him (in the name of teachers) he replied, "I think they should give a better grade for working easy. It's a lot harder." Do not think that creating pressure creates better performance. Think about that.

—You should have a map of top company deadlines in your head--your head, not in the project management or enterprise management system only. In fact your top tier should know the deadlines of the total picture and whether they need to be tightened or loosened.

—Setting deadlines is an art. Be aware that you are the ultimate owner of deadline creation. Use this art well.  There is power in it beyond stress and continuous urgency.