The Art and Science of the CEO

The Science and Art of the CEO

CEOs across the world have dealt with the consequences of the past two years very differently. Some have taken tough decisions for themselves, their teams and organizations – decisions that wouldn’t have crossed their mind if 2020 would not have happened. Like work from home.

The architype of sprawling headquarters with people buzzing into their workplaces inundated with work meetings and coffee chats throughout the day has changed significantly.

How has all that impacted the quality of work and teams’ performance? How do we continue to give our best? How will I know my team’s morale is as strong as ever? How equipped were we to deal with a situation like this? These were questions that every CEO, business leader and team head has grappled with during the past two years.

The answer lies in the leader’s understanding of his or her role. More than ever, the person at the helm is not only the top Executive but the Chief Engagement Officer.

To that end, there is science and art. Both the art and the science of organizational leadership have been crucial during these times. For those leaders who haven’t been able to balance both these parts of their job well, these years must have been an uphill challenge for themselves and their teams. On the other hand, leaders and their teams, who realized that their job of working with their teams has a rational and an emotional side to it, thrived.

This is why.

In the past, the typical sense of control that certain leaders used to exercise over employees by virtue of the “office structure” was shattered due to work from home. They now had to completely trust their teams to do well, meet and exceed their targets and work in the best interest of the organization even in absentia from the office.

The science of setting clear targets and communicating it to teams, keeping organizational systems and processes going smoothly and applying the typical measures of performance measurement of their teams continued to be vital.

But that was not enough during these years.

The art of engaging your teams in a bigger mission, passing on a message of hope and certainty through actions as much as words and making each member of your team feel the importance of his or her efforts towards the greater good of the company became paramount during the times. At the same time, opening-up to your team to share the limitations of today were equally important during the pandemic.

For some leaders this was a tough ask since this meant they were no longer the be-all and know-all; it meant some loss of hierarchical control and a blow to the ego. For some, taking care of this emotional side of their responsibility towards their team came naturally. Along-with a relentless pursuit of excellence and performance, it required high levels of authenticity, care for their teams, being comfortable with uncertainty and open to expressing their own vulnerability and, crucially, being able to work without the conventional structural paradigms of organizational hierarchy.

This part of business leadership was the “art” that kept teams together, the emotional competency that no traditional rule book had taught the CEO before.

Moving ahead, in this new era of the workplace, the art and science of good leadership will continue to be the hallmark of highly successful organizations, teams and the CEO for many years to come.

Be prepared.