The impatient CEO - Editor's Note - Brief Article

Chief Executive, The, Feb, 2002

John Brandt

Everybody thinks that he or she should (or at least could) be a great CEO. Yet few of these pretenders are willing to cultivate the three character traits that great CEOs must have to get through turbulent times. These qualities may not win you points at cocktail parties, but they'll make your shareholders love you:

Intensity: Great CEOs are usually described by employees and customers alike as intense, with a focus on business issues that seems to block out other concerns. More important is the ability great CEOs have to instill this intensity and passion into others. IBM's Lou Gerstner is described by almost everyone he meets as intense, with a capacity for work that outstrips everyone around him. Some argue that his most valuable contribution to IBM has been to transform a culture focused on planning for tomorrow into one that values actions, and products, today. How focused are your employees on customer value? What will you do in 2002 to improve your organization's focus, as well as your own?

Confrontational unorthodoxy: The first words to greet any CEO's initiative are always these: We tried it before, and it didn't work. Lesser CEOs hear these phrases and wonder if they're up to the challenge. Great CEOs answer these words with two of their own: Why not? Great CEOs question everything -- current organizational structures, staffing, product mix, customers -- with a skepticism that borders on impertinence. When James Kilts, now CEO of The Gillette Co., first took over Nabisco, he ignored a century of history to launch a $660 million restructuring that eliminated non-performing brands and facilities. At the same time, he increased sales and advertising expenditures -- and profits. What did your staff tell you was impossible when you first became a leader? What's the greatest obstacle to growth your company faces, and why do you believe it?

Impatience: No great CEO ever achieved anything as fast as he or she would have liked, and yet the organizations they lead always feel that the CEOs are moving too fast. The difference between the speed of a great CEO and the speed of the company is usually described as the impatience of the CEO, rather than the torpor of the organization. Yet this impatience is a key element in a CEO's success, especially when used to bring agility to a corporate culture. Just one month after his arrival at Alcatel, with the company in disarray after scandal and poor execution of earlier strategies, Serge Tchuruk directed a sweeping reorganization that divided Alcatel into six sectors and eliminated an entire tier of senior management. This set the company on the path toward growth again.

How quick is your organization to implement new strategies or launch new products? If you had to completely realign your business -- markets, reporting structure, everything -- how long would it take? What could make you faster in 2002?

And what will make you a great CEO?

John Brandt

President & Editorial Director