What should a CEO do or not do!

“The role of the CEO is to enable people to excel, help them discover their own wisdom, engage themselves entirely in their work, and accept responsibility for making change.”

― Vineet Nayar, Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down

The title and position of CEO carries a lot of weight and responsibility. Irrespective of the size of a company, it holds true for all industries and sectors globally.

One key question to answer about the role of CEO would be, whether a CEO is the de-facto or de-jure leader or manager of a company or conglomerate?

The answer to the questions lies in:

• ·        One’s own personality traits
• ·        Company Culture
• ·        Investor Demands
• ·        Size of the Company
• ·        Stakeholder needs and
• ·        Market Pressure

A CEO can wear myriad hats to manage expectations of all, provided he or she is empowered to assert both his position and personal power on a case-to-case basis. Investor confidence and expectations are also part and parcel of that discourse.

Through my own experience and observations of CEO’s in the places that I have worked in the past; a simple conclusion that I have drawn about CEO’s role is that the person should be the “Motivator in Chief”

Among other things, a CEO is responsible and accountable towards:

• ·        Market Forces
• ·        Investors
• ·        Myriad Stakeholders, not limited to Shareholders
• ·        His entire team and
• ·        Self

The tasks of leading, managing, delegating, reviewing, authoring, authorizing, communicating being the key among many others. Very few CEO’s can walk the talk and turnaround a company’s position. The very esteemed Alan Mullaly turned around Ford in a difficult period when their counterparts were turning towards government aid to survive.

Key for investors and shareholders is to showcase trust in their CEO’s without looking to do backseat driving. If the authority gets crippled, a CEO as a leader may find it difficult to even assert his personal power for the benefit of all. Ideally leading by example than authority, while empowering the team should be the motto of any CEO.