Another very interesting week with clients building themselves and their organizations.
Boiling down a lot of reading, research, experience, and current conversation with some gifted Builders and leaders, here are five crucial roles that can only be played by the top leader of an organization. Leaders come from every level, but no one has the permission or prerogative to perform these roles, other than the man or woman at the top:
1. VISION: Is there a clear and compelling purpose (reason for being) for the enterprise? Are its values clear and adhered to? Is its direction for the immediate future clear? Do people generally know “why” they work for the enterprise beyond receiving a paycheck?
If so, it’s the work of a visionary leader who communicates for understanding.
If not, that person is ignoring a critical component of their job description.
2. INITIATIVE: Are concrete actions being taken by senior leaders that demonstrate the company’s purpose, values, and direction? Do these actions, along with frequent, clear communication from the top, inspire employees to take initiative in support of the purpose? Are employees invited through clear communication about the purpose to engage fully with it?
If so, it’s the result of the top leader taking his or her role seriously, and backing the rhetoric of “mission” with concrete steps that inspire people to ENGAGE with the mission. OPUS for the enterprise and OPUS for employees become ONE.
If not, the top leader is shirking responsibility for a critical component of competitive advantage and differentiation–people power, integration, and buy-in.
3. TRUST: Do employees trust senior leaders, and each other? Do senior leaders model in action the following four aspects of trust?
a.) Personal Trust (they have trust in themselves from a strong CORE)
b.) Ethical Trust (they say what they’ll do and do what they say transparently)
c.) Situational Trust (they have the common good at heart, not their own personal agendas)
d.) Strategic Trust (they have the skills, abilities, and track record to lead others to success)
If so, the top leader has built an enterprise of speed, agility, and forward momentum through high trust, eliminating the “trust tax” that burdens most “normal” enterprises.
If not, that leader has allowed the trust tax to burden the enterprise with fear, caution in action, and the second-guessing of every decision.
4. ALIGNMENT: Are all core work processes aimed at delivering value to customers? Are they properly documented, and therefore transparent and understood by all? Are they undergoing continuous improvement? Are all key supporting systems (technical or otherwise) aligned with core processes, and are they reasonably efficient? Do employees feel these processes and systems help them create value for customers?
If so, the top leader has kept the inherent promise in the purpose of the enterprise: to BUILD a company capable of achieving its mission and giving employees the pride of craftsmanship, competence, and mastery in their work.
If not, the top leader has failed to keep the basic promise of the enterprise, saddling it with inefficiencies, cynicism, and “work-arounds.”
5. EXPECTATIONS: Are goals and outcomes clear to all? Are performance standards clear for each employee at every level? Are they linked to the purpose of the enterprise and achieving customer loyalty? Are people at all levels held to account for reaching or missing goals? Do recognition and reward systems make sense? Are they deemed reasonable and fair? Does the enterprise make an impact?
If so, the top leader has succeeded in blending CONCEPTUAL vision and inspiration with CONCRETE systems and results. This creates a COMPLETE enterprise (as complete as humans can create).
If not, well, the world is not very patient with top leaders who cannot create results…
How is your enterprise doing against these five keys?
Have you measured where you are strong, and weak, in these areas?
Are you closing gaps of both integrity and knowledge to improve things, or are you unaware of the importance of vitality in each of these areas?
Tell us more.
BUILT TO LEAD 
Jim,
Thanks for the article on the keys that the CEO carries. I have been shouting for years, VISION, VISION, VISION! Not on deaf ears, but on right-hearted, vision believing leaders who will take the time to think about and create a vision statement, but then don’t know how to communicate or initiate the proper methods and tactics to make the vision a reality. Or worse, in their fickleness they shout the vision from the rooftops for a time, and then get diverted to other more interesting ideas, thus damaging their credibility and people’s desire to follow.
Building on your theme, if you haven’t read Gallup Press’ book Strengths Based Leadership (Tom Rath, Barry Conchie), which is a follow-up to StrengthsFinder 2.0 (Rath), I would recommend it. After scores of interviews they have determined the “Four Domains of Leadership,” and “Followers Four Basic Needs.” While it is all good reading, I was surprised at what they found concerning followers and our basic needs. Trust as you point out in your article was one of our basic needs, stability was another; both of those came as no surprise. The other two, however, were not what I would suspect CEO’s would put at the top of the list if asked, “What makes a person follow?” Compassion and Hope. People want to know that they are cared about, and they want hope for the future.
We follow people who we can trust, create stability, care about us, and offer hope for the future.
Thanks again!
Scott
Scott,
Many thanks for your awesome, thoughtful comment. We HAVE read “Strengths-Based Leadership” and like a lot of it. Here’s what we think may be going on:
First, like it or not, CEOs must do more than cover EITHER right-brained OR left brained thinking. That role calls for someone who can think with their WHOLE brain. Right AND left.
That, my friend, is why BUILT TO LEAD insists on “dream” AND “do.” Clear vision and inspired initiative are “dream.” Aligned systems and great sustained results are “do.”
There are five great human fears: of death, of the outsider/stranger, of the future/unknown, of chaos, of personal insignificance.
Therefore, five great human needs: for security, for community, for clarity, for order, and for impact.
Therefore, five key leadership roles for CEOs: Trust (security), Initiative(productive community), Vision (clarity), Alignment (order) and Expectations (results/impact).
All of these roles, properly performed, give HOPE, and are based in COMPASSION.
Compassion is a missing element of life in business these days; maybe in all of life these days. Sssshhhh. (It’s a secret. You can’t really talk about it. It’s too “soft” and “squishy.” It makes people uncomfortable, and we can’t have THAT, can we now)?
Yet compassion is the core of servant leadership–leadership for others, not for self. It’s at the core of great customer service…remember that? Compassion is at the core of CORE–individuals’ ability to love and respect and trust themselves. Therefore, I submit, it’s the missing ingredient to sustained great performance–for individuals, teams, and leaders.
And THAT, my friend, is why BUILT TO LEAD exists–to awaken in all the “walking dead” that awareness of and commitment to the source of all compassion.
(see Chet’s blog on “Fire and Forget” for more on how humans really “work”).
Keep in touch, Scott!