The Tech CEO Success Model (Pt.2): The Top 5 Leadership Pitfalls
Pete Daffern has been a CEO three times over, and overseen US and EMEA operations for a handful of multi-billion dollar companies. Here Pete lists the Top 5 pitfalls he sees most CEOs stumble upon at some point in their journey.
1. Remember youâre a CEO
There are two ways of looking at this one. The first is as simple as your wardrobe. How you present yourself, down to your clothes, says something about you and your company. You canât help it. Steve Jobs may have appeared the archetypal jeans-and-trainers CEO, but look closer and youâll see a carefully curated image that was perfectly in sync with the emerging Apple brand. This isnât just about what T-shirt you wear though, itâs about a daily state of awareness, what you say, what you donât say, your moods, your demeanor, everything, folk are watching. How you come across to your people and your public is an active statement of your company, whether you like it or not. Be aware of that and think twice before you raise your voice, buy that purple waistcoat, or for that matter, Lamborghini.
Hereâs the second part of this pitfall: a company with an ok CEO will only ever be an ok company. Thatâs to say that your performance and ability sets the bar for the whole company. Comfortable with that? If not, then perhaps youâre not understanding the importance of your role. Other people matter too, of course, but you, as CEO, matter the most. The invitation here is to be empowered by that realisation, not intimidated by it. Whatever you do, donât ignore it and think you can hide behind results or a dazzling team.
2. Keep it simple
Have you walked into a meeting room and the previous meetingâs scribblings are still on the whiteboard? How often can you decipher their meaning? The chances are, that meetingâs conversation was anything but simple. When it comes to a CEO describing her companyâs activity, it should always be simple and succinct. Iâve sat through a 15 minute rendition, plus flipchart hieroglyphics, that – whilst compelling â took me time and a lot of questions to discover what the company actually did. Complication is not big and itâs not clever. Buyers particularly must be clear as to what theyâre buying. âWe do X, which means Y and will give you Z.â Make it simple and theyâll love you for it.
3. Keep communicating
I had a head of marketing who constantly, relentlessly assured me that my company liked hearing from me, their CEO. I had to hear it many times because itâs easy, as CEO to think that youâre starting to bore people with the same repeated message. Donât worry. Just keep saying it until they tell you to stop. Repetition of vision and direction is reassuring, directive and clarifying. A lighthouse doesnât just shine once.
Thereâs a hunger for people to connect to the mission and vision, culture and values. As Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, said at our CEO summit in Silicon Valley last year, âRepeat it over and over and over. When youâre sick of hearing yourself say it, thatâs when theyâre beginning to hear you.â Jeff holds a video âtownhallâ meeting with his entire global staff every other week. Being seen and heard is central to your role as CEO. Being coy and modest is itâs own kind of arrogance: actually itâs not about you, itâs about the company which you personify. To your team and your customers you are the companyâs voice – so use it.
4. One idea
Your big idea: move slower and execute the hell out of it. Many CEOs think that, because theyâve thought something through, itâs done. No it isnât. The idea, the thinking, is just the beginning. Youâre not finished. Thereâs always more to do. Almost always. Identify the single pin in the bowling alley youâre aiming for. If you aim for all ten it wonât go so well. The entrepreneurial mindset, as Iâve said before, is restless. Just be aware of that your enthusiasm doesnât spill over into impatience.
5. Focus and Clarity
Itâs your job, as CEO, to make it clear to every single employee what their role is to make this company a great company. I see a number of businesses where the mission is not clear, nor are individualsâ conceptions of their part in achieving that mission. We all know the J.F. Kennedy / NASA anecdote. (In case you havenât heard it, JFK asked a cleaner at NASA what his role was: âto put men on the moon, sirâ). This old story does contain this ever-fresh truth: that every single one of your employees should be clear and focused on the companyâs purpose and their own specific contribution to achieving it. Execution down to the employee level is easy to achieve. People just need to know their role and if they donât, you as CEO are responsible for doing something about it.
5 pitfalls, 5 opportunities
These 5 pitfalls are as much about mindset as practice. Being CEO of a tech company (or any company for that matter) is a privileged opportunity to positively affect many peopleâs lives. Living the full potential of the role within a truly great company is not only an exciting personal journey, itâs a corporate necessity.