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Am I Capable of Leading This Company Through Volatile Times? Who Can I Talk To? 3rd in a Series of 4

Leigh Bailey | June 18, 2013 | Blog | CEO Advisory | 2 minute read

When a CEO empowers others, is her role diminished?  Most would answer with a decisive, “Of course not”.  But try explaining that to the owner of a growing business who is struggling trying to figure out how to add value to her business without disrupting the role of the new President she hired. Or to a CEO thinking about hiring his potential successor and worried about staying relevant.  Or again, to a CEO whose Board questions whether he or his COO is really running the business.

CEOs have egos and insecurities like everyone else. Often CEOs become CEOs because they are perceived to be (and often are) the smartest person in most rooms they are in. Not surprisingly, they come to associate their value to the business (and as people) with being more visionary or strategic or analytical problem solvers than their colleagues.  And when this role is threatened by hiring new talent or empowering existing talent, anxiety and “bad behavior” are often the result.

Here are some strategies that I have seen CEOs use successfully to move to a “new level” in their growth and development and overcome their ambivalence to letting others grow and “shine”:

  • Focus on building a truly effective Enterprise Leadership Team. This is work that only the CEO can do. Make sure the vision for the business is clear and compelling. Demand that ELT members operate with an enterprise vs. functional perspective.  Work to clarify the roles and accountabilities of your team members. Be a truly effective coach and mentor.
  • Look for opportunities to resolve long standing (and seemingly irreconcilable) conflicts between ELT members and their functions. Long standing tension between areas like sales and marketing sap an organization’s energy and become barriers to innovation. Some conflicts can only be resolved by the CEO. Bring the “warring parties” together and act as a mediator. The creative energy that will be unlocked by resolving old conflicts will transform your organization.
  • Focus on key external relationships. One CEO I know calls at least one client each day to thank the client for their business and ask how his business can be of greater assistance. Another pays extra attention to building 1:1 relationships with his board members. Time invested in relationship building is time well spent.
  • Focus on building awareness of the external environment:  Attending industry conferences, reading about global and economic influences on your business and making new connections with leaders outside of your current network will help you to think strategically and build your confidence as well.

Do you need help defining your most important contribution to your organization? Call The Bailey Group and talk to one of our CEO advisors to find out how.

Minneapolis | CEO Advisory Leadership Development