Long-standing CEOs almost universally say their number one job is to own and drive vision and values. At the same time, their common regret is not moving faster to get people in appropriate roles. Reflecting back, CEOs talk about how surprised they were by how lonely the job is, and both the positive and negative stress involved with being in charge.
They also realize the less they do themselves, the more they will be able to inspire and enable others.
Michael Porter et al note “The Seven Things That Surprise New CEOs:”
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You can’t run the company.
- Giving orders is very costly.
- It is hard to know what is really going on.
- You are always sending a message.
- You are not the boss.
- Pleasing shareholders in not the goal.
- You are still only human.
Further, they suggest the CEO must learn to manage organizational context rather than focus on daily operations, recognize that his position does not confer the right to lead, nor does it guarantee the organization's loyalty, and not get totally absorbed in the role.
In Justin Langseth’s first CEO job as founder of Zoomdata, he is quickly learning to focus on vision and values, people, and what those people need to fuel their efforts.
OWN THE VISION & VALUES
Langseth’s vision is for Zoomdata to “easily allow companies and people to understand data visually in real time.” In an interview, he discussed how early in their careers he and others wanted to “work with people we like.” Later they got excited by a “cool technical idea.” But this time, as CEO of Zoomdata,
There’s a unique moment that’s going to radically shift this industry. I’m devoting my time and energy to the thing we’re going to be known for…that can fundamentally transform the world, and make it something I want to work on for a long time.
His advice to other CEOs is to “Really make sure what you’re building is reflective of what you want your life’s work to be.” It’s hard to inspire others if you’re not “deeply passionate and motivated” yourself.
INVEST IN THE RIGHT PEOPLE
Langseth is focused on “finding the right people, getting them in the right positions, setting the broad direction and then letting them go.” When he founded Zoomdata, he identified the right people by bringing in 15 colleagues that he worked with previously as well as new people to offset the risks of group think. As a self-proclaimed technology geek, he misses the ability to dig into the technology, but he knows he must play other roles and let his team do what they do best.
FUEL THE MOST IMPORTANT EFFORTS
One of the big changes in Langseth’s life now as CEO is the “fundamentally different feeling he has knowing he is personally responsible to his company stakeholders – investors and employees.” He knows that he must lead the efforts to get the fuel they need to keep going. He feels that the burden of getting revenue and investment falls on his shoulders.
Langseth has raised $1.5 million in seed funding from 20 angel investors and has 16 employees. "It's like having 36 children – you're trying to turn them all into millionaires but you can't let them starve along the way."
This is an example of the heart of The New Leader’s Playbook: BRAVE Leadership
We’re all new leaders all the time. So remember all the time that leadership is about inspiring and enabling others to do their absolute best together to realize a meaningful and rewarding shared purpose. With that in mind, BRAVE leaders pay attention to their Behaviors, Relationships, Attitude, Values, and Environment – all the time.
Those basics always apply. They are always necessary – and never sufficient. The secret to success is to apply those general basics to the particular context you face – especially as a new CEO like Justin Langseth who is focusing on vision and values, people, and what those people need to fuel their efforts.
Click here to read about each step in the playbook
Click here for YouTube videos highlighting each step
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The New Leader’s Playbook includes the 10 steps that executive onboarding group PrimeGenesis uses to help new leaders and their teams get done in 100-days what would normally take six to twelve months. George Bradt is PrimeGenesis’ managing director, and co-author of The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan (Wiley, 3rd edition 2011) and the freemium iPad app New Leader Smart Tools. Follow him at @georgebradt or on YouTube.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
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The position of CEO comes with high expectations. Irrespective of their past credentials, any CEO new to a business is under pressure to hit the ground running. They carry the responsibility to deliver breakthrough results, above and beyond any of their predecessors.
This means that the first 90 days of their tenure is critical. Yet with the unknowns of a new role, the pressure to perform, and the need to be accepted as a new leader by an established team, it can be difficult to know where to start.
The fact is that most new CEOs are appointed to bring a new perspective and fresh ideas. They are there to look from the outside in, and to connect the dots of the whole enterprise, sharper and faster than anyone on the inside.
There's an old saying, "you can't read the label when you're sitting inside the jar," and this is precisely where new CEOs come in. The first 90 days should be dedicated to scanning the business as a whole, and identifying the leverage points that can break vicious cycles that are preventing optimal results.
So, how can this be achieved in practice? Having worked with dozens of CEOs in different industries, from information technology, higher education, and healthcare to real estate, construction, and more, we've put together a cheat sheet that lays down a clear set of actions– the do's and don'ts during the first three months.
Part One: The Do's And Don'ts For The First 30 Days
DO:
Identify where the customers' voice is first heard, and listen to it Whether it's customer services, sales, or the quality department, it's important to start by spending two full days listening to customer calls, reading their emails, and observing sales meetings. This should be done in collaboration with the department head, so that they are part of the process, and see the new CEO's interest in creating end-to-end value.
Understand how customer promises are delivered Spend another two days exploring what information and criteria are used to deliver customers promises. Does the team evaluate delivery capacity, its constraints and bottlenecks? Or do they set expectations blindly, because departments work in silos, and don't have full end-to-end information in real time?
Establish the current customer experience metrics from end-to-end Spend a week gathering data to understand how many customers are waiting for the company to deliver their promises, and how much money is outstanding from unpaid, overdue invoices- for example, late remittances of five days, 15 days, or 30-60 days.
Involve managers in identifying system flaws Invite the leadership team to spend three or four days together in those same settings. Listen to customer calls, read customer messages, and together study the promise-giving moments and the fulfillment milestones. This will create the collective knowledge and urgency to change old managerial habits that may have been obstructing optimal performance.
Related: Building An Executive Management Team: The How-To
DON'T:
Stay out of sight Sitting in an office asking department chairs to deliver data won't help you understand the detailed systems and processes behind it. It will only leave more questions unanswered and time wasted.
Act authoritarian Don't ask your leadership team to simply report to you. Go out and study the end-to-end system for yourself.
Assume knowledge Don't overestimate the understanding of the leadership team. If they are only concentrating on delivering in their own area, they are unlikely to know how the enterprise works as a system from end-to-end.
Part Two: The Do's And Don'ts For Days 30-60
DO:
Collaborate and communicate with managers Gather the leadership team for 5-7 days. Split these days over the period of a month.
Identify milestones that the whole organization can monitor Monitor daily milestones across the end-to-end process so the entire organization can understand where the challenges and bottlenecks lie. This helps to improve performance throughout the whole process, rather than individual functional areas.
Implement daily end-to-end performance planning and accountability Conduct a daily 15-30 minutes (virtual or physical) stand-up team meeting around a visual display of the end-to-end business process. The visual representation allows managers to see how performance is built upon the interdependencies between functions, rather than a top-down management approach. This insight brings a radical change; for the first time, leaders understand the need to work horizontally across the business rather than protecting their own vertical functions.
DON'T:
Focus on lagging key performance indicators (KPIs) Traditional KPIs can't help to foresee and navigate daily business risks. Don't ask the leadership team to focus on efficiency; they will only work on their own area and create more waste in the form of queuing orders, lower overall throughput etc.
Rely on organizational structure The traditional business organization chart should be discarded, as it does not reflect the interdependencies needed to function effectively and deliver value to the customer.
Build the accountability from the shop floor Reporting responsibilities should reflect the fact that success is achieved horizontally across an organization. Leaders must be accountable for ensuring the interconnectedness across functions.
Related: Doing Your Fair Share: Why Leaders Need To Know The Difference Between Delegation And Abdication
Part Three: The Do's And Don'ts For Days 60-90
DO:
Take time to "zoom out" After zooming in on the business process with daily end-to-end planning, it's time to "zoom out" and identify the weaknesses in the system. Work with the leadership team to pinpoint one fault or bottleneck that is creating a vicious cycle and preventing optimal performance. Expect to spend 6-9 days in total to define the challenge and create a strategy around it.
Acknowledge flaws in current systems 99% of the time, the vicious cycle is rooted in the current strategy, KPIs, or process rules. For example, a call center has the KPI to respond to customers within two minutes, a sales team's KPI is to focus on new and lucrative customers, while the production team KPI is to shorten lead times. Everybody is busy and doing their best separately, but mediocre results are being delivered– all because the KPIs of the different departments are disconnected from the end-to-end process.
Dismantle failing and outdated approaches Work with the leadership team to identify the cause of the vicious cycle, and create a strategic plan to break through it horizontally. The plan should have a maximum of 1-2 strategic objectives annually, 3-5 cross-functional initiatives quarterly, with a clear owner and team. That team needs to meet 3-4 hours weekly to work hands-on to execute the plan. Establish monthly routines to review the strategic initiatives based on a recognized process or system improvement strategy, such as plan-do-study-act (PDSA), or the agile lifecycle.
DON'T:
Dive in blindly Often a founder or board will develop a strategy without understanding the enterprise as a whole. A new CEO must take the time to get to know the organization, identify the vicious cycles, and create a strategy that addresses them.
Take the vertical approach New plans and strategies need to be developed and deployed horizontally to improve organizational performance.
Expect instant effects Don't presume that the leadership team knows what it takes to execute a strategy. Long term-commitment and discipline is vital.
Through this 90-day process, a new CEO will develop a thorough understanding of their organization, its customers, its functional interdependencies, and develop a strategic plan to shift from mediocre performance to achieve end-to-end business excellence.
Related: Five Things To Remember On Your First Day As A Leader