The Top 10 Things a Good CEO Should Be Doing

Every year, our company Next Step Publishing (www.nextSTEPmag.com) goes through an employee review exercise. As most companies do, every employee gets reviewed by their manager but we add a few twists.

We have a huge place in the review for the employee to give feedback. Our goal is to see what we can do to help each person be the best they can be. And what better way to see how we can help than to ask?!

Another thing we do is allow each employee to offer feedback comments on each person in the company. These are pre-framed with questions to allow for constructive feedback and not pot-shots.

Since I don’t have a boss, I ask my managers to review me every year. And the entire staff is encouraged to offer anonymous constructive feedback.

So last year I got a comment that went a little something like this: “I really like Dave and love the company, but I am not sure what Dave does.”

At first this struck me as odd because I know I work my butt off and was surprised this person didn’t have a clear picture of what I do.

Then suddenly it all made sense and I felt good about it. In my thinking, a good CEO is not involved in the day to day details and the team may wonder what the heck he/she does.

A good leader is working from a higher altitude, making sure everything is moving forward. As Michael Gerber says in the E-Myth (http://www.e-myth.com/), a good CEO/Entrepreneur should be working ON the business not IN the business.

I learned from friend and entrepreneur Cameron Herold (www.backpocketCOO.com), success is determined by how well the CEO hires “how” (how to get things done) people while he/she focuses on “where” (where is the company going).

A good metaphor for an effective CEO/Entrepreneur is a duck. You see, a duck's head and body above the pond look calm and graceful; but if you look under the water, the legs and feet paddling like crazy! So a good CEO appears to be a calming, confident force but under the surface, he/she is kicking like crazy!

So to get back to that employee’s comment about not knowing what I do. I started to think about what I do and/or what I should be doing.

Here is the list I came up with.

1) Inspire. A fish rots from the head down. If the leader (the head) of a company doesn’t inspire the team, passion, creativity and loyalty will be non-existent.

2) Coach. A good leader doesn’t solve problems; he coaches his team to solve problems. Many CEOs think they need to play God and solve all the problems so they look good. Baloney. The leader will have more time to inspire, create and do more meaningful activities if he doesn’t have to solve every problem.

3) Watch over the finances like a hawk. This really should be #1, because no cash flow, no business. Nuff’ said?

4) Liberate Passion. A good leader natures, encourages and liberates passion. A bad leader squashes it by once again, trying to play God and thinking that all ideas must come from him.

5) Grow Leaders. A good CEO is not afraid to pass on the knowledge and plant seeds for future leaders. He is a teacher. The only way a company will grow is if there are future leaders with common vision and values.

6) Drives the Vision. As mentioned above, a good leader is the “where guy/gal.” She lays the blueprint of where the company is going. She does not necessarily describe how the company will achieve the vision; rather she sets the vision and leads the dream. Remember Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “I have a dream!” He did not say, “I have a plan.”

7) Communicate. What good is it having a vision and a dream if nobody knows about it? An effective CEO cascades her vision to the rest of the company on a regular basis. She develops a rhythm where the vision is discussed and communicated often. When the team starts to recite it back to the CEO, it’s starting to take shape!

8) Disrupt Comfort. My old friend and consultant John Engels (http://www.leadershipcoachinginc.com/) warns CEOs of company harmony. Many harmonious companies are about a hair away from bankruptcy. Why? Because when there is harmony, there is often passive aggressive behavior; meaning that nobody wants to rock the boat and discuss uncomfortable issues in the workplace. A good leader will poke and prod at harmony and make sure that it not a cover for discomfort.

9) Listen. Many CEOs love the sound of their own voice. Effective CEOs remember that God gave us two ears and one mouth; and that we should use them in that proportion. A CEO that does not listen to his team will have to be content with only getting a small portion of the complete picture.

10) Set the Culture. If a CEO takes short cuts, he will attract like-minded souls. If he guides the organization with morality, integrity, love, fun, creativity, loyalty and the ability to give candid, yet tactful feedback, he will create a company that produces super-uber cool products all while being an incredibly satisfying and ethical place to work.

So there you go. That is my ultimate job description. As with everything, it’s a work in progress but certainly is a great roadmap for success!