LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP 55 everywhere and at everything, then the organisational behaviour will mirror that, so panicky people will be ready with all information before every meeting. There is nothing more destructive in an organisation than a CEO who wants to double-check each little thing. It’s shocking and worrying how many leaders still spend their time overanalysing details irrelevant to the business’s future. At Oliver Wight, we advise CEOs to look into the business’s future – one, two, or even three years ahead – to understand what needs to change to drive their strategy. Obsessing about delivering results for the current quarter is not helpful and draws others into a myopic mindset and space. The best CEOs will be able to delegate decisions well and focus on the future – not with a crystal ball, but in a curious way to manage today’s reality and work out what needs to happen for a better tomorrow. Then, using that insight and foresight, they will understand where the business needs to be, where it is now, and what needs to evolve to take it from one to the other. empowerment and autonomy will cause long-term issues. Indeed, in 2023, businesses have to be agile to navigate around any obstacles that are in the way, planned or not. Delays will be costly in more ways than one. If events of the last three years have taught us anything, though, technology has allowed a move away from a command-andcontrol leadership system. Whichever approach is taken by a CEO boils down to trust. There is a big difference between believing you are the best person to make every decision and building mutual trust and respect with your people by letting them make decisions. By providing the right tools, boundaries, and authority, they will likely make good decisions most of the time. But if a CEO does not trust what is placed in front of them, then that uncertainty will permeate the organisation. Insight and foresight Alternatively, a CEO that offers clear leadership and delegates decisions will win the trust of those around them. They will appear strong compared to a CEO who looks vulnerable through their micromanagement and meddling. Again, it comes back to behaviour as a CEO. If your behaviour is “understand and focus”, the organisation’s behaviour will be “prepare and present”. If you look Using another topical example and one more relevant to a business setting, CEOs should make and communicate a catchall decision on how the company should use AI. A successful leader will be clear about the boundaries of an AI strategy. How should – and shouldn’t – AI be used, so the rest of the business can optimise operations? If every decision beyond a certain level needs to be escalated up the leadership chain, then there will be bottlenecks, and progress – and momentum – will be halted. Unnecessary bottlenecks More than that, inadequate empowerment, so everyone feels they need to seek high-level approval for every tiny thing, fosters a culture of inefficiency. Just think about the people that copy their boss into emails, just as a kind of insurance policy. It’s a waste of time for everyone – which leader or manager wants a clogged-up inbox filled by lowerlevel communications? Bottlenecks will cause employee frustration to fester. That growing dissatisfaction will be targeted towards the person or people at the top who are, directly or indirectly, slowing everything down. At a time when the attraction and retention of top talent are paramount to business success and growth, this poor employee experience and lack of “While we marvel at the speed of technological advancement, the way leaders make businesscritical choices has, by and large, stayed the same.” www.oliverwight-eame.com
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk3Mzkz