Monday, December 27, 2010

The Two Vital Functions of A CEO

Over my 30 year career, I have worked for or with a couple hundred of CEOs and Senior Executives.  Of all the important responsibilities of a CEO’s job, two stand out as vital: Focus and Barrier Busting.

The speed of change, 24/7 connectivity and an unlimited supply of information available in the palm of our hands is like a firehouse of demands gushing straight at our face.  I listen to my members talk about the constant meetings, the volume of email and the unrealistic expectations from all parties in their lives.  The discipline of focus and clarity has never been so important and so difficult to execute.  Unless, the CEO has it, the rest of the organization never will.

One of my members, recently acquired, was talking about the new owners building walls in the organization that no one will acknowledge.  This is a great example of a self imposed barrier. Because speed is like breathing in this global economy and because the CEO holds THE position of power within the organization, only he can bust the big barriers that impede execution and employee engagement.

I will explore these functions in future posts.

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