How do I become a good CEO?

December 10, 2008 6:10 PM

How do I become a good CEO?

Last week, my business partners conspired behind my back and decided to make me our firm's CEO. It was unexpected and really caught me by surprise.

Now, apart from being very flattered by their trust in me and by everyone's reaction so far, I am incredibly nervous about the whole thing and really, really want to evolve into the best possible CEO I can be. Thus, I seek your help.

What is the single most important thing I should do to achieve that?

I've purposefully avoided details of our company so as not to limit your responses, but have created a gmail account for direct contact: [e-mail]

posted by anonymous to work & money (30 comments total)

Listen and lead. Be reasonable and be firm.
posted by zippy at 6:20 PM on December 10, 2008

Be mindful of all of your legal duties to shareholders, the board of directors, etc. I would strongly recommend talking to counsel about this. (I am not your lawyer, and I am not giving you legal advice.)
posted by The World Famous at 6:26 PM on December 10, 2008

CEOs project confidence and power, and they talk talk talk. They talk up the company, they talk up the industry they're in, they learn just enough about what everyone in the company does so that they can talk that up too. Maybe they understand what they're talking about, maybe they don't, but they talk so much no one can pause long enough to figure that out.

And they self-promote. They promote themselves, the company, the industry. Maybe they know what they're talking about, maybe they don't, but they promote so much no one can stop to think long enough to figure that out. Like Cory Doctorow, but with a tangible product.

Fake it 'til you make it.
posted by orthogonality at 6:27 PM on December 10, 2008

Lead by example.
posted by micawber at 6:32 PM on December 10, 2008

It may sound cliche, but treat your employees well. It's unbelievable how few chief executives abide by this rule.
posted by boeing82 at 6:34 PM on December 10, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Innovate, communicate, delegate, collaborate
posted by Xurando at 6:45 PM on December 10, 2008

Be a personal example for the actions of your company. When people see the CEO pitching in to wash the dishes (especially his/her own, but, hey who left this cup on the counter!?), or swap out the water cooler jugs, it counts. It matters. Lead with your actions -- be honest and forthright with employees, partners, and customers.
posted by zpousman at 6:48 PM on December 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Keep your employees at at least arms length and no further. Meaning: let them know that you KNOW they are humans, and let them see that you are human, too.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 6:57 PM on December 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Leadership is 90% communication. It's good to make sure you are listening, and that others think you are listening. I'd say this is the most important thing.

Otherwise... you could write a book on just the minimum of being a CEO, but I would say to:

A. Have a good team around you. Most CEO's can't do everything, and even if they could they should not. Good people around a leader are vital to handling situations as they arise.

B: If you have a board of directors, send them a status update email every two weeks or so. Does not have to be detailed, 2 paragraphs at most, but just keep them in the loop. That way the board will have a better understanding of what is going on and why you are doing/did what you did.

C: Think beyond just number costs. We keep picking apart the foundations of businesses just to save $.10 a day; and in the end it's not worth it - I've seen where a company would not pay for a employee to get a nicer keyboard because IT said the current one was fine and the supervisor didn't want any additional expenses... but the employee could type at 100+wpm, and was one of the few in the company who could - and her job performance was better for it. It took one of the top three in the company to get that overridden. The ends don't justify the means; because it does not take into account the side effects of the means.

I'm a MBA student, and this is my first post - hope it helps and congrats on becoming CEO.
posted by rmathew1 at 7:01 PM on December 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Firstly, congratulations!

- Don't try and change things immediately. Take some time to figure out what the priorities are for your staff, the Board, and the partners/shareholders.
- Look for ways of remaining connected with the operational staff - an "open door" policy may not be workable, but things like regular staff forums can be really positive.
- Surround yourself with competent people - and let them get on with it.
posted by finding.perdita at 7:04 PM on December 10, 2008

I'm going with boeing82 on this. I work for a small company (~40 employees) and the CEO is the reason I took the job. I first spoke to him back in '04 but I wasn't available then to fill the position ( I lived 800 miles away at the time ).

With that being said, back then I would have been employee #6. Now I am employee # 39 and the guy is still as cool as he was then.

The idea that being in a Sr. management position means detachment from your production staff is not valid. We have recently hired a layer of middle management since I started with the company but every morning he still makes his rounds just to say a quick hello to everyone. More importantly to my Dev team, he is active in coding right along with us.

Personally, I admire this involvement far more than any amount of money and promises.

Try to maintain your personality and respect for your employees, and be fair. One word of caution: it's a growing pain that all organizations go through - don't let personal loyalty stand in the way of doing what is right for your company. Apart from that, be a good person and do what you can to let your employees remember where you came from and that you are one of them still.

It really should be easy for any good person to handle. In practice it doesn't always go so easily. It really ought to.

Congrats to you on your new position!
posted by jtoth at 7:06 PM on December 10, 2008

Ask each one of your business partners to write down 3 things:
1. The number one reason why they wanted you as CEO.
2. One thing they think you should improve on.
3. Where do they want the company to be in one year from now.

Ask them to print their answer on one sheet of paper that will be put in a suggestion box. Perhaps do the same thing for question 2 and 3 for other employees (if any), replacing question 1 by "The thing they like the most about you."

In parallel, read, read and read to try to learn as much as you can about your industry, your clients' industries, your suppliers', etc., so that you have a well-rounded picture of where your company is ... and where it could be.

Above all, remember that you are the #1 cheer-leader of your company and all its employees. Never criticize either publicly. Criticisms should be done one-on-one, addressed directly to the individual concerned. Praise should be made publicly.

Best of luck!
posted by aroberge at 7:08 PM on December 10, 2008

My dad is one and just retired this week after a pretty stellar career in that capacity. All of the congratulatory emails he's received in the past few days have said the same thing. I have cut and paste here from a couple that he forwarded to me, quite tearfully:

"Thank you. You were a tough-as-nails boss, but you were exceptionally fair. You took the time to empathize with your employees when needed and we very much appreciated that you worked harder than us at all times. Your example was one to emulate and your humor saved the day a thousand times over."
posted by meerkatty at 7:11 PM on December 10, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Be humble.

The CEOs I've known have all been egomaniacs who either engendered a cadre of sycophants or elicited outright hate and revolt from the workers.

Stave off egomania by being humble, remembering your roots, and surrounding yourself with the things that remind you of who you are, where you come from, and what you respect.
posted by wfrgms at 7:36 PM on December 10, 2008

Take this with a grain of salt, as I've nothing but an incidental knowledge of the workings of business, but something that seems to work for people in every field is to study the work of people who've had a lot of success in it. Even for those figures whose profiles don't seem relevant to what you do, there are probably some methods you can use from their operation.
posted by invitapriore at 7:37 PM on December 10, 2008

After you've been doing it six months or so, read Good to Great. Fantastic tips in that book.
posted by Happydaz at 7:52 PM on December 10, 2008

I'd have to disagree with Happdaz. Stay far away from Good to Great. If my leadership started to blather on about "washing our cottage cheese" and "dealing with the Stockdale paradox", I'd quit. I recommend Michael Abrashoff's It's Your Ship and Lou Gerstner's Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?
posted by djb at 8:12 PM on December 10, 2008

I'd also suggest reading some of Joel Spolsky's writing about his experiences running Fog Creek software. Even if IT isn't your field, he has written some very good stuff about management and leadership (and the difference between them).
posted by impluvium at 8:30 PM on December 10, 2008

I have the privilege of working with top level executives from businesses of all sizes and organizational types. All of them are successful at what they do. However, in my experience there are tangible differences between the executives who are humble and personable and those who treat their employees like crap because they can.

The first type inspires their employees by not being afraid to lead by example. They work hard, and expect the same of their teams, but they are flexible and have good humor. They are the ones who are nice to secretaries and underlings, being well aware of the fact that those people are the grease in the machinery of the company. These executives have loyal employees who work their hearts out and sacrifice for the good of the company.

The other type governs employees through fear - be it fear of losing the job or fear of being reprimanded. They are the prima donnas of the business world, who treat secretaries like they are beneath them, and insists on everyone dropping whatever they are doing to cater to their every whim. They work on the CEO type marketing stuff, sure, but never down on the operations level. These executives have hard working teams too, but turnover is high and there is a lot of internal drama that hurts productivity.

There are, of course, those who fall somewhere on the scale as well. But the very best executives I've worked with fall on the scale somewhere towards the first type, and that attitude permeates the company from the top down. Remain humble, listen to what people you value have to say, make sure your employees have the support they need from you to do their jobs, and don't be afraid of digging in and helping with menial tasks if needed.
Lead, don't' dictate.

Grats on the new position, and good luck!
posted by gemmy at 9:17 PM on December 10, 2008

you already demonstrated you're pretty good at it - you asked. keep at it and listen. be the person who is able to ask the simplest questions in the room and surround yourself with as many people who are smarter than you are as you can find (and ... well ... afford).
posted by krautland at 9:57 PM on December 10, 2008

Have a solid vision. It's a good position to lead from, and a safe fallback position when you don't know what to do (and don't want anyone to know it).

You probably already have one whether you know it or not, but sit down and solidify it, put it down in as few words as you can. You don't have to share it with anyone, but use it as a touchstone against all of the decisions you're going to make and as a focal point of what you say and you will look like (and be) a strong focused leader.
posted by Ookseer at 11:58 PM on December 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Use yardsticks religiously. By which I mean...

(1) Devise fair and meaningful ways of evaluating people (managers, likely) and their performance.
(2) TELL those people exactly how they will be evaluated and how their performance will be measured, and how often (twice annually is common).
(3) Actually USE those methods: actually evaluate people/performance that way. Regularly.
(4) Review performance using ONLY THOSE CRITERIA with each person.
(5) Work out ways to improve areas of shortcoming with each person (involve them), and also always REWARD any measured overperformance, even in small ways to show that it's noticed/appreciated.

It's amazing to me how few leaders do this basic thing right, and instead end up with frustrated or confused managers beneath who don't know what they need to do in order to be "favored" because the yardsticks either don't exist or keep changing.

Look back at six million AskMe's about bad work environments, and you can boil half of them down to "I wasn't measured how I expected to be measured or should be measured." or "Nobody seems to know how hard I work or how much I do..."
posted by rokusan at 3:42 AM on December 11, 2008

At the risk of oversimplifying or stating the obvious, conduct yourself with honor and be fair. Nothing will make the few hopeless people happy, but the vast majority just want a fair shake.

Nobody's perfect and I think most people realize there are no prefect managers/CEO's... and there are no perfect employees, either. There's a view, though, that too many managers at all levels are slimy or worse, and lots of people have seen enough to think that view holds some water.

It has been striking to directly experience and hear countless stories I believe about managers, CEO's or otherwise, who simply aren't. It's sad commentary to compare notes with a good friend, find that of our six former managers, there was one who, if he said he'd do something he did it; if he said he'd give it his best shot, he would.

Maybe it shouldn't have been striking; I was once grumbling at the leadership where I worked and a friend commented, "Management's bad everywhere. Why do you think Dilbert's so popular?"
posted by ambient2 at 4:34 AM on December 11, 2008

Be enthusiastic and compassionate and never, ever, ever buy a book in an airport.
posted by MarkAnd at 4:58 AM on December 11, 2008

Don't micromanage product details. I don't know what industry you're in, but I've worked at more than one company where the CEO would stand over some designer's shoulder nitpicking about colors, wording of relatively inconsequential stuff, and so on. Let that stuff go.
posted by mkultra at 5:47 AM on December 11, 2008

Radiate confidence. Above all, ethics and integrity.
posted by ostranenie at 7:13 AM on December 11, 2008

Allow, encourage, and consider alternative opinions.
View your employees as valuable assets, and not as costs on a balance sheet.
Do not micromanage.
Remember...In general, you most likely do not know how to do their job better than they do.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:57 AM on December 11, 2008

Balance vision with pragmatism.
posted by contessa at 9:35 AM on December 11, 2008

Hello Anon,

In my recommendation, read EVERYTHING written by becomeALPHA www.becomealpha.com. They have been written up as a leading CEO and leadership training company, and their material is awesome.
posted by thegmann at 9:51 AM on December 11, 2008

My old man had several decades of successful CEO experience and he was revered by many people under him. I asked him once what it took to do the job well. He said, in no particular order:

Treat people the way they want to be treated.
Never be afraid to make a decision and stick to it.
If it turned out the decision was wrong, admit it, learn from it, move on.
Hire people smarter than you in their respective fields. Buy the best advice you can.

For me, it all kinda boiled down to integrity. He haz it.
posted by Thistledown at 9:05 AM on December 12, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]