“It annoys me how often I need to tell my leadership team what to do. But if I don’t, they just won’t do the right thing.”
(How to upset everyone in one fell swoop. But it needs saying, so here goes…)
If you’re a CEO frustrated with your leadership team (LT), I’ll bet they’re also frustrated with you.
AND, If you’re an LT frustrated with your CEO, I’ll put money your CEO is frustrated with you.
I regularly see CEOs frustrated that their LT isn’t taking ownership, or moving quickly enough, or looking at the bigger picture.
Equally common, I see LTs frustrated that their CEO seems to change direction at whim, or not be clear about what s/he wants, or have unrealistic expectations.
Flipsides of the same coin.
CEOs need to be really clear about direction and expectations, have the hard conversation when they’re not being met, and not adopt a strategy-of-the-month.
A great LT owns responsibility for their area, AND looks one step up to keep aligned with the company’s overall needs.
Both are absolutely essential. Both are doable – I’ve lived and seen the change in teams I’ve worked with. But they need to looked at together, or we won’t achieve what we set out to do.
If any of this sounds familiar, let’s have a chat and I’ll share what I’ve seen work.
Will 2022 be another year of a strategy at best vaguely met? Of being a CEO unable to step back from the day-to-day to do the things your company needs to meet it's ambitions? Of having a purpose and values that don't directly connect to everything you do? We're looking for an intimate beta group of CEOs (10 to 40 employees) to join us on this upcoming webinar to talk through our Build on Purpose framework for making strategy, purpose and values happen.