Good Points for Fledgling CEOs
Sean Silverthorne's spare blog post on the surprises that trip up freshly-minted CEOs has kernels of true wisdom.
In his piece, Sean quotes Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter with Jay Lorsch and Nitin Nohria on three specific tips for new CEOs. They include:
- Manage Time. Too many top managers do tend to get stuck in a day-by- day existence that prevents them from seeing the big picture. Daily operations are what you have employees for. Your job is to be the far-seeing, guiding visionary.
- Loyalty is Earned: If you don't behave according to the values you espouse, everyone under you will know it immediately and respect for you will evaporate.
- Forget Perfection: As a journalist, I have dealt with many CEOs who believe the grand trappings of their headquarters. Surrounded by yes-men gatekeepers, they soon believe that they possess extraordinary powers. When they deal with the outside public in efforts such as philanthropy, they expect everyone to genuflect just as their vice presidents do.