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Have you ever noticed how a newly hired CEO often starts his\/her tenure with a BANG!\u00a0 Making all sorts of immediate changes \u2013 whether it\u2019s replacing the entire leadership team, reorganizing, initiating a major acquisition or spinning off a business unit?\u00a0\u00a0 One thing that is a hallmark of new CEOs is\u2026change! And this creates great tension and, often chaos, within the organization.\u00a0 Yet many of these CEOs, after 3-5 years, quietly disappear\u2026leaving the organization different, but not necessarily better, than they found it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I used to puzzle over this as I observed it over and over \u2013 at companies, at school districts, at large non-profits.\u00a0 Why would someone create such chaos and stress, and then just leave?\u00a0 That\u2019s unconscionable!<\/p>\n
Over time, I\u2019ve come to understand that they aren\u2019t evil and they don\u2019t do it on purpose.\u00a0 Most of these CEOs arrive on the job with the best of intentions.\u00a0 And they didn\u2019t intend to create a mess and leave.<\/p>\n
But they feel a lot of pressure to show immediate results.\u00a0 So they often rely upon an action they\u2019ve successfully used elsewhere to try and effect immediate change – whether their favorite go-to action is reorganization, an acquisition, or draconian cost-cutting.\u00a0 They immediately implement this action and the staff straps themselves into their office chairs and braces for impact of sudden, and sometimes violent, change.<\/p>\n
In laymen\u2019s terms:\u00a0 When you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.<\/p>\n
And yes, sometimes the action does produce short-term results.\u00a0 But then what?\u00a0 Often the CEO seems to fizzle out \u2013 they don\u2019t have any more big ideas and can\u2019t seem to make any more progress in improving organizational results.\u00a0 Or maybe the action they chose didn\u2019t even produce the desired effect, at all.\u00a0 Either way, they slowly disengage and\u2026leave.\u00a0 The staff cheer.\u00a0 And then brace for impact of the next CEO.\u00a0 It\u2019s a dreadful cycle.<\/p>\n
Yet there is hope.\u00a0 There are CEOs who do achieve tremendous long-term results and who command the greatest respect (and devotion) from their employees, year over year.\u00a0\u00a0 I believe one of the secrets is that these CEOs don\u2019t immediately reach for their \u201cgo-to hammer\u201d.\u00a0 In fact, they don\u2019t actually believe they have all the answers.\u00a0 And they rarely give orders for immediate high-impact action upon arrival (unless, of course, the organization is a breath away from failure when they hire on).<\/p>\n
These truly fearless leaders enable and empower their staff to be part of their TEAM.\u00a0 They are able to articulate their long-term goals for the organization and lay out a blueprint.\u00a0 And they LEAD the organization in such a way that staff is eager to help achieve the organization\u2019s long-term goals.\u00a0 Sure, sometimes this requires some difficult or stressful actions – reorganization, replacing leadership team members, draconian cost-cutting, spin-offs and acquisitions.\u00a0 But the difference is that these successful CEOs do a fantastic job of communicating the big picture and of including staff in the conversations (and sometimes in the decisions) about the future of the organization.\u00a0 So, when the tough decisions ARE made \u2013 people understand and feel respected.<\/p>\n