EVENTS
The Art of Self-Coaching for CEOs
The Art of Self-Coaching is a course that I designed and launched at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2015 and taught to over 500 MBA students. I'm now offering a virtual version of the course to cohorts of 6 CEOs.
READINGS
While much of my writing on this site is relevant to leaders at all levels, most of my clients are CEOs, and I regularly write posts that address issues specific to that role:
1. Managing Yourself
I was asked about the most common mistakes made by my clients. I considered how my clients would answer that question, and I think the overarching theme would be: They waited too long.
Watch That Next Step (On CEO Problems)
First-time CEOs can be surprised by how different the role is from other leadership positions. Even my clients who've had experience as COO often discover that leadership at the next level brings unexpected challenges.
Three Buckets (On CEO Job Descriptions)
Changes in a CEO's job description--meaning how they add the greatest value--occur at intervals. There may be relatively little change for an extended period of time, and then many things will change in rapid succession.
The Cognitive Dissonance of the CEO
CEOs must portray a compelling vision of a successful future and also be keenly aware of the endless list of things that can go wrong. A client once called this "CEO schizophrenia," but to be precise it's a form of cognitive dissonance.
Your Toughest Critic & Biggest Fan (CEO Self-Assessment)
You have to be both your toughest critic and your biggest fan, because the nature of the CEO role makes it difficult to get candid feedback from people in a position to offer relevant and trustworthy guidance.
We often view leaders as avatars of their organizations, and leaders may see themselves in the same way. These symbolic identities have significant implications for what we expect of them and for what they experience in their roles
Leaders can find themselves engaged with a large number of people over the course of a given day and yet feel profoundly alone. This can leave them vulnerable to the friendship of wolves.
2. Managing Others
Mind the Gap (On Leading Senior Executives)
As a company grows, some early-stage leaders will make the leap, while others will need to be levelled to bring in senior executives who can better support sustained growth and successful operations at scale.
The Evolution of the Executive Team
Executive teams must evolve to meet the requirements of the business, team members, and other stakeholders. Visible, discontinuous developments happen at periodic intervals, but minor adjustments can occur at any time.
Necessary Friction (On CEOs and Product Leaders)
The relationship between a CEO and their Product Leader is often a challenging one, and yet a degree of friction in this relationship is necessary and healthy. Too much friction and a saw gets stuck, but a slippery saw doesn't cut at all.
The Truly Strategic People Leader
A truly strategic Chief People Officer is an incredible asset to a CEO. Consigliere, data maven, culture champion, team coach, senior closer. This entails not only hiring a strategic thinker, but also positioning People as a strategic function.
COOs aren't figments of our imagination, but the reality is that there's no single job description for "COO," and it can mean something wildly different from one company to another.
Not Your Friends. Not Your Enemies. Not Your Boss.
I find it helpful to clarify for the CEO who their Board members are by reminding them who they are not: They're not your friends. They're not your enemies. They're not your boss.
The Problem with Hot-Swapping (On Executive Transitions)
Sometimes a CEO hopes an under-performing exec can be managed out with no disruption, no awkwardness, no mess. A client once called this "hot-swapping."
Merciful Exits (On Under-Performing Executives)
CEOs sometimes delay necessary executive transitions in an effort to be kind. The paradox is that leaving an under-performing executive in place can actually be a form of cruelty.
CEOs understandably want to keep their team focused on the work necessary to succeed. But when this results in a failure to celebrate, it's not only a missed opportunity, it can also be actively counter-productive
A number of my clients are opting to hire a Chief of Staff, and given how widely the job description can vary it's useful to clarify expectations for the role and note how it contrasts with (and is similar to) that of an EA.
3. Transitioning
I've worked with several dozen clients through the process of a CEO transition. There's no one right way to orchestrate and execute it, but I've observed a sequence of stages that CEOs and companies tend to follow.
What Do You Need When You Don't Need the Money?
It turns out that many people who've worked hard their entire careers have a finite capacity for being on vacation, and financial freedom doesn't necessarily affect the motivations that drove them as professionals.
The Ambiguous Role of Executive Chair
I don't believe there are best practices that an Executive Chair must follow in order to succeed, but here are a set of questions that a new Chair and an incoming CEO can explore to arrive at a shared definition of success.
Photo by Peter.
