Page 17 - April 2023

CEOs are successful due to their skill and ability to worked as effectively as expected and that there needs to
call on the right executive at the right time, to harness be a slowdown, stop, turnaround, etc. One should not be
specific strengths and skills to meet a situation. afraid to ask for directions from the team, restructure,
More than often, they must tell hard truths and and/or forge ahead.
take painful steps while driving organizational change,
restructuring the pyramid layers, and promoting an en- • The CEO can get back in control by creating a new
tirely new business model. Most CEOs struggle to adopt road map, a better strategy, and a more realistic
change because their vision is limited by deep insecurities business plan.
that they are not good enough and/or that they may be • Why is the organization going there (purpose of
unmasked. the business)?
This then blurs the limitations of their leadership • What is required to make the business successful
style, masks destructive mindsets at lower levels of the (products and services)?
organization, and generally distorts what’s going on • Is the organization moving in the right direction
outside the executive suite. (strategy and business plan)?
• Does the organization have enough money
Is the CEO truly in Control? (capital) for the trip?
When getting into a car and driving to a new location,
one relies on all the traffic signs along the way that tell The CEO constantly needs to stop and ask for direc-
us what to do, or better still, what not to do—slow down, tions along the way, re-evaluate the organizational path
one-way, wrong way, and so on. These signs guide us and the speed at which the business is growing, and
and deliver us to our destination. When a business plan revisit strategies for survival and success. And the one
fails, there are signs along the way that the CEO has way the CEO regains control is by involving his people
neglected to observe and reflect on seriously. There are (the true experts in their own fields) in organizational
signs that have raised warnings that the plan has not decisions. Then, and only then, can the CEO be in control.

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