Strategic Leadership-No. 2: Four Things Only a CEO Can Do
Many CEO’s are challenged daily by a myriad of operational issues—meeting financial goals and just keeping the business running. It leaves little time to think about where the business is going and what they need to do to put it on the path to accelerated growth. Survival in today’s economy is a goal in itself for some companies. For some, their industry is changing rapidly as new ways of doing business emerge—newspapers, traditional senior living facilities, and banking—putting them in a world of chaos where they work harder just to slow the decline. So how does a CEO focus their efforts to maximize the results?
Harvard Business Review, in their May issue, identified four tasks that can only be accomplished by the CEO.
- Defining the meaningful outside. In other words, to know what trends matter, which customers count and where future business will come from. A CEO must have an idea what kind of business they aspire to be, who their target customer is, which external stakeholders matter most and what results are most important.
- Deciding what business you are in. Being clear about what business you are in goes beyond selling widgets. It has to do with understanding why you are relevant, why customers choose you today and will still choose you tomorrow. In today’s world, most retail bank customers choose on the basis of location but for “millennials” (the customer of the future), the top concern is rates. Uh-oh, sign of a commodity-to-be. Regional and community bank leadership will have to work harder to differentiate and establish niches. CEO’s need to decide what market segments they can win with and where they can’t.
- Balancing present and future. Of course, CEO’s can’t ignore what is happening today to focus solely on the future. But CEO’s must be sure that the activities of today are a step toward accomplishing the vision for the future. Short-term goals need to eventually lead to the achievement of the long-term plan—one step at a time. Don’t be concerned about thinking big—you must think big to be big. But set realistic interim goals.
- Shaping values and standards. Company values are the unwritten behaviors most commonly experienced in a company. They guide how the activities the company performs are accomplished, how communication works, and how winning is defined—individually and collectively. Values can range from being an innovative organization (like Apple) to employees-first (like Southwest) to the Golden Rule/Christian principles (like Chick-fil-A). Values must enable the goals and vision to be achieved. It is important to remember that they must also reflect the principals the CEO believes in or the CEO will have difficulty modeling the behavior for the rest of the company.
Now for the good news. These key tasks can make the job of a CEO easier—they give a CEO the ability to divide the piles on their desk into what is relevant to their stakeholders, takes a step toward their future and is consistent with their values—and what doesn’t/isn’t. And what doesn’t can be moved quickly into the circular file.
If you are struggling with these tasks, Reynolds Consulting, LLC can help. Now is the time when many companies prepare for next year and the years beyond. Make sure 2010 is the first step toward your vision! Call us at 816/350-7680 or 615/783-1626 or email mreynolds@reynolds-consulting.com. Also check out our website, blog or twitter page.