Amid Gloom, a note of optimism - Editorials - CEO's job to keep company focused on future - Brief Article

Chief Executive, The, May, 2003

It's extremely difficult in times such as these to find much cheer. War, the technology sector's nuclear winter, the wave of corporate scandals, the stock market's continued decline and overall economic conditions are overwhelmingly negative for the vast majority of companies.

But the thing to remember is that the cycle will turn. It is perhaps the emotional job of a CEO to keep some percentage of his or her organization's energy focused on what comes next. That next cycle is likely to be characterized by rebuilding--rebuilding Iraq, rebuilding strained international relations, rebuilding the U.S. economy and rebuilding companies.

Of course, no one knows for sure exactly when that moment will come. As Corning CEO Jamie Houghton quipped to Chief Executive last month, "We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We just don't know how long the tunnel is."

The CEOs who are going to be able to actually bask in the light at the end of the tunnel are those who do not become consumed by the pessimism of the moment and do not allow a sense of paralysis to creep into their organizations. We are not proposing that all CEOs become cheerleaders with bright red pompoms. But we do believe that the best CEOs are long-term thinkers. And in that long term, there is solid reason to believe that a period of rebuilding will commence.