I wish to kick start the topic by sharing my self-coined analogy as follows:
The chief executive officer (CEO) is a corporation's "heart" (focal point) that directs the flow of "blood" (business related activities) to the "body" (corporation). The other top management executives are the "lungs" (vital complementary factor) which provides "oxygen" (boost) to the blood (business related activities) so that the entire body (corporation) can function properly.
The heart and the lungs must be strong so that they can relay the essential life line for other "organs" (departments) and "components" (staff members) to function well.
I use the above analogy to impress upon readers these evident truths:
* Before a corporation can be wholesome, it must have the right CEO and key officers in place as the prerequisite.
* The CEO and key officers must be stellar performers themselves, just like the heart and lungs must individually function well and be in fine condition. If the performance of one side falters, the other side will also falter.
* The CEO and key officers must complement one another in conveying the right communication and morale to the whole manpower in the corporation.
*The CEO and key officers must be strong individually and strong as a cohesive team. A strong CEO cannot excel without the cooperation of strong key officers; likewise strong key officers cannot excel without the guidance and leadership of a strong CEO.
* A corporation which desires to beat competition must give top priority to secure a dynamic paramount leader. The quality of its chief executive and quality of key officers are inter-connected. An astute No. 1 leader will know how to pick dynamic candidates to be his "generals" deliver the right financial results. Such is the domino effect.
Now, let us talk about the No. 1 position first. Revered corporate CEOs have the following common traits:
# MEAN WHAT THEY SAY AND SAY WHAT THEY MEAN
They follow through to honour commitments declared by them. They state their intents of purpose with utmost sincerity. They do not make promises unless they are serious in the fulfilment.
# ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR FAULTS
They take cognizance when an action or directive turns out to be erroneous. They then set out to rectify the error.
# ACCEPT UNINTENDED ERRORS OF SUBORDINATES
They recognise that people sometimes make inadvertent mistakes. On one hand, they exonerate the subordinates as long as the mistakes are not due to gross negligence or intentional. On the other hand, they counsel positively, to the extent of instilling encouragement rather than lashing admonition.
# EXHIBIT CONCERN FOR THE PEOPLE AT LARGE IN HIS FOLD
They are not self-centred. They treat employees as people, not resources at their disposal.
Contrarily, CEOs of the opposite type reflect at least one of the following common traits:
# MERE STORY TELLERS
They are fond of depicting false positive scenarios as their ploy to garner support. Their stories are unreal, merely to project a feel-good atmosphere. Mere story tellers cannot be trusted to fulfill promises. They do not say what they mean (making statements different from real intent); neither do they mean what they say (not serious to honour statements made by them).
# DIVERT BLAME TO OTHERS WHEN EVENTS OR MISSIONS FAIL
Instead of admitting their shortcomings in leadership, they point fingers at subordinates' incompetency. They look for scapegoats to take the blame in order to exonerate themselves. Although they may not be totally responsible for an uneventful result, yet they are somewhat accountable by virtue of their position. When any fiasco happens, the CEO may not be directly responsible for it but still deemed accountable.
# METE PUNITIVE JUDGEMENTS FOR UNINTENDED FAULTS CREATED BY SUBORDINATES
For fear of punitive actions regardless whether a fault is major or minor, the subordinates directly below the CEO will strictly adhere to set guidelines for implementing activities and thus refrain from making decisions. The discretionary experience of subordinates will be stifled.
# SELF-CENTRED.
The focus on their own well being in deeds and actions, not heeding the needs of the work force at large.
The Vital Element of CEO Material
Notwithstanding the above traits, the most vital determining element of CEO material is this: Is the chief executive a PRIME MOVER or PASSIVE STAYER by personality? Passive stayers never manifest as strong CEOs. Only prime movers have the cut to transmit the right directions for subordinates to do the right things in the right way. We have to bear in mind key officers in a corporation look up to their CEO for key directions. They key officers should take the cue from their CEO before they relay the same cue to subordinates down the hierarchy - that is how the organizational system works to ensure overall sync. Let us look at a juxtaposition of prime movers VS passive stayers.
PRIME MOVERS (PM) PASSIVE STAYERS (PS)
Entrepreneurial Conservative
Innovative Conventional
Risk taker Unadventurous
Energetic Complacent
Inspiring (others) Stifling (others)
Respect (other views) Demur (other views)
Now, the definitions:
PM: ENTREPRENEURIAL
Business minded. Embark on visions and missions geared for attaining quantum leaps in both top line (business revenue) and bottom line (profit) results. Possess ardent drive to reach greater heights of achievement. Deploy strategies to enhance the brand name of the enterprise. Willing to bear more expenses for campaigns if confident that such would significantly boost business growth and overall profit. Keen to carve new market niches from time to time. Instil an air of vibrancy and flexibility in the work environment.
PS: CONSERVATIVE
Vision and mission for the future is not vital when current situation appears fine. Prefer status quo as long as the revenue and profit figures are reasonably alright. No drive to reach out for excellent achievement. Be contented with mediocre results, including business levels. Keep tight control over expenses. Not bold to embark on unexplored aspects which may pose exposure to some risks even if not expected to be enormous. Bring about a dull work environment in the corporation whereby an air of prohibitions and inhibitions prevails.
PM; INNOVATIVE
Initiate new approaches, events, campaigns to drive revenues. Know how to play up the atmosphere in the corporation to boost morale of the work force. Strive to break out from repeating the same business activities in the same or similar ways. Conduct frequent brainstorming and researches to derive viable ideas. Willing to think out of the normal box; better still, create new exploratory boxes.
PS: CONVENTIONAL
Carry on "business as usual (BAU) activities in business operations. Seldom introduce new initiatives. Tolerate a mundane atmosphere without hype. Lack creation of ideas. Think and act silo.
PM: RISK TAKER
Explore possibilities to venture into non-established/new avenues with calculated risks within acceptable boundaries. Exercise analysis, judgement and discretion when facing vital business issues. Will take on projects deemed to offer substantial business potentials if relevant risk level exposures are deemed manageable. Dare to take challenges.
PS: UNADVENTUROUS
Prefer to remain in comfort and safety zones. Being contented with BAU activities, just like the conventional-minded passive stayer character. Lack analytical, judgement and discretionary instincts. Dull-minded. Not willing to take risks or challenges.
PM: ENERGETIC
Those who are entrepreneurial and innovative are also energetic. Sprightly and highly spirited. Always engaged in work activities. Passionately driving the enterprise. Willing to be on the frequent move and travel if such will contribute positively to the business. Interactive. Sociable. Emphatic in verbal communication and speech. Know how to keep a balance between work time and personal time. Settle major issues urgently. A protagonist.
PS: COMPLACENT
Laid back. Not much involvement in work related activities. Prefer to be an "armchair critic" in meetings and discussions without being actively involved to give directions for settling issues. Conservative, conventional and unadventurous people are normally also complacent. Neither interactive or socially active. Give priority to personal time over work time. Lack sense of urgency even when situations warrant immediate attention. Act by normal strides. Overly "cool", devoid of any work pressure or excitement.
PM: INSPIRING
Reflect leadership in terms of ability to influence others. Frequently deploy encouragement approaches. Captivating personality. Effective counselor. Eloquent. Philosophical. Strong people knowledge - in human behaviour/psychology. Good motivator. Open-minded. Willing to empower the right subordinates but with some overview guidance. Well respected by others.
PS: STIFLING
Lack leadership skills. Like to pin-point faults of others. Dampen morale by reprimanding subordinates. Uninspiring speech delivery. Poor interaction connectivity. Poor listener. Poor in delegating empowerment. Micro management style. Not understanding. Not well regarded by peers and subordinates.
PM: RESPECT
Courteous. Maintain composure when discussing issues. Allow relevant parties to express their views, recognise their inputs. May be firm in stand based on valid grounds but maintain cordiality in dealings with subordinates. Mindful of religious and cultural beliefs and sensitivities. Professional demeanor. Believe in exhibiting mutual understanding and mutual respect. Can win natural respect from others.
PS: DEMUR
Unreasonable. Crude. Like to run down subordinates. Repressive. Insensitive. Inconsiderate. Use caustic remarks. Aloof. Disallow others' views. Autocratic. Negatively regarded by subordinates. Demand "forced" respect from subordinates.
Prime movers are natural leaders at the top levels. Passive stayers equate to followers who should be positions to take the cue from the helm instead of giving cue to others. The latter will fail miserably to play the leader role.
(extracted from Dilbert cartoon series)Specific Qualifying Strengths of Effective Leaders
To elaborate further, dynamic leaders (CEOs and key officers) are top management officers who possess the following combined qualifying qualities:
* Sufficient experience exposure relevant to the business of the corporation.
* Reasonably wide technical knowledge, at least to have clear overview - for overall general understanding of the industry and business concerned.
* Analytical. Able to grasp pertinent perspectives of prevailing situations and issues pertaining to the corporation.
* Execution of sound judgement, decision and discretion.
* Adept articulation. Able to express well in writing and verbal presentation. Able to influence others and secure their buy-in.
* Pervasive and penetrative public relations - establish wide connectivity, both within the corporation and outside. Good relations with all levels of stakeholders, namely board members, shareholders, subordinates and outsourced service providers. Healthy networking relationship with the local media and the government.
* Maintain composure when facing difficult or urgent situations. Not temperamental. Do no lose temper or become too emotional.
* Team builder. Encourage mutual understanding to pave way for mutual respect, which then promotes mutual support, to hit the desired (mutual) corporate goals.
Conclusion
In an earlier article posted in my blog, I promulgated that profound management involves mainly one aspect, i.e. PUT THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT JOBS. When a corporation has the right people in place, implementation tasks will generally be in pristine order. First things first, for a corporation to have an upper edge over competitors, it is imperative to first have a dynamic CEO. Then, the CEO should be granted the mandate to select his key officers. Such a move may call for re-structuring at the top management, if necessary so.
I like to cite a prominent example in the property development industry in Malaysia. A renowned private development company focusing on high-end residential and commercial units was doing extremely well both on local grounds and overseas because of the dynamic leadership of its CEO. At the prime of its success, the CEO left to join a competitor as chairman. Now, the development corporation he is steering, with the "eco" image, is creating even greater waves in the property ocean, also locally and overseas.
When the CEO of a corporation is the right one, there is likelihood the key officers under him will be the right ones, whether by way of replacing the old with new capable ones or grooming up the existing pool if they have potentials for improvement. It depends on how the CEO wants to drive home his plans and the qualities of his direct down-liners. Having the right key officers will ramify to having the right subordinates further down the hierarchy to a greater extent than normal scenarios. About 50 per cent of the goal to propel effectiveness and efficiency for the corporation is at hand with the appointment of a dynamic CEO. About 70 per cent is secured with the appointment of the dynamic CEO and dynamic key officers to instil the right values into the overall work force. Although 100 per cent in efficacy may not be achievable, yet at least the journey to quantum leaps is generally on track.
Ends....
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