The Captain CEO and their strong team

"With great power comes great responsibility" - A slogan known from the comic books about Spider-Man's adventures could hang on the wall in the office of any CEO. The CEO is given a lot of power in his hands, which he has to use in such a way that all the gears in the company's machine are in perfect harmony. A CEO who misuses his "powers" will not achieve his business goals and the whole elaborate plan to beat the competition will collapse like one of the buildings in superhero movies.

After this review of visual metaphors, it's time for a deeper reflection on who really hides behind the three-letter CEO shortcut and what is their role in the company structure. Why should a CEO create and maintain a strong team to achieve the company's business goals? Can they be an inspiration for the employees?

Who the hell is CEO

The responsibility of the CEO results from their location in the company's pyramid. It is the highest rank in the organization, which does not come down to the mythical "boss" alone. They are co-responsible for the success of the company, making the most important managerial decisions and creating and implementing a strategic development plan for the company to succeed in the market. Moreover, it is the CEO who, with their own head, is responsible for the company's results, which he must demonstrate to the management and shareholders. Therefore, one of the most important skills of the CEO is to create and maintain a good, harmonious team that will take care of the implementation and development of projects. Importantly, companies with a great brand or excellent product line without a team that can achieve their goals will never be able to pursue success.

The CEO and his mission

Is the CEO of a large and small company the same person? Well, not necessarily. In smaller companies, the role of the CEO is more practical, which means that he or she is also involved in making decisions that belong to lower-level employees in larger companies. They personally conduct interviews, hire employees, and even are natural salesmen. In larger companies, smaller decisions on smaller caliber issues are delegated to managers.

The CEO as the company ambassador

Even if the company has a spokesperson, the CEO will also perform their responsibilities. After all, it is up to the CEO to communicate with business partners, institutions and the public. Therefore, it is not only about overseeing the development of the company's strategy or the implementation of the organization's mission, but also about providing face-to-face support for all its activities. It is important to be consistent in all activities - even those that take place after hours. It is hard to imagine that the CEO of Audi would drive a Mercedes. 

A separate and at the same time extremely important issue is the value of the CEO and the company. If the two coincide, there is a genuine symbiosis that makes it easier to build the organization and the team because the CEO's decisions are logical and understandable.

The CEO also needs to be a little omnibus that can be supported by programmers, graphic designers, accountants and lawyers, and can find its place in every aspect of the company. The CEO should understand the concepts, basic mechanisms and surround themselves with trusted experts who will help them to solve problems in the area.

The Empathic CEO

By creating and/or maintaining a strong team spirit, CEOs should be able to properly and fairly assess the work done by their employees. What is important here is the ability to look at every problem empathically and in a multifaceted way, to listen to employees and confront them with reality - without losing sight of the company's business goals. This can be difficult, but it is one of the guarantees of harmonious and development-oriented work.

This situation applies, especially to small companies. In these large companies, the CEO's work focuses primarily on numbers and parameters. Even if it is extremely empathic, the possibility of demonstrating this feature is rather minimal.

The ideal situation is when the CEO is a source of knowledge and inspiration for the employees about the possibilities of expansion and development.

A CEO's job is not a walk in the park

I am convinced that most of my colleagues will agree with me that running an organization, even the developing one, is becoming more and more complicated and thus demanding. The constant avalanche of technological innovations and an increasing flood of information is putting pressure not only on customers and competitors but also on regulatory authorities. Running an organization, although it sounds perfect, is not a walk in the park. This prominent position, after all, is associated with difficult decisions such as layoffs, reductions, cuts. You need thick skin for this. 

Rigorous teams made up of the best specialists are a must. As LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman aptly put it: "No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy is, if you play solo, you will always lose to the band. It is hard to disagree with his opinion.

The CEO and their team in points

How to create and maintain a harmonious team? I will try to summarize it in seven concise points.

1. Clearly, often in capital letters, communicate your expectations towards your employees. Remember that leaving too much room for guessing and deducing is not always the best way to achieve common goals. Don't be afraid to speak out loud - your people will certainly not think you consider them as idiots.
2. Maintain team morale even or especially when things are not going according to plan. Remember that the attitude of the rest of the team is largely up to you. You have to be an inspiration and a roadmap for them. 
3. Let teamwork become one of the most important company values. Remember that words have power. Emphasizing the importance of the culture of teamwork will make your people believe that thinking, planning, making decisions, are better in cooperation.
4. Appreciate teamwork. Salaries, bonuses, prizes always work as a good motivator.
5. Be honest - sometimes even to fault. If it is good, talk about it - don't assume that if something looks obvious, everyone knows about it. The same is true for tasks that are clearly not done well. Your team should know what can be done better and how. Most importantly, be fair.
6. Hire better people, inspire them, and let them "pull you up". As Gene Simmons, bass player and vocalist of Kiss (and a great businessman), said, "surround yourself with better than yourself, because only they can make you better". 
7. Give your team an opportunity to grow. Remember that better team competence means better services that your company can offer. It's about being competitive. In the era of galloping development of modern technologies you always have to be two or even three steps ahead. 

Go, best team!

If a CEO has the ability to unify employees within a common goal, it will generate more productivity - that's easy. Robust team building is a process that aims for a completely formed unit. Not only will its members work better, but they will also be willing to share their concerns, remarks and expectations related to the task. What's more, they will trust, support and respect each other's differences. The CEO is Captain America, who is to guide his Avengers to play to the same goal. We already know that with great power comes great responsibility, and when used well, it can make the company a harmonious and profitable machine.

Finally, I suggest an interesting article prepared by McKinsey specialists. The authors present the ways of thinking and practices of the best CEOs. It is worth reading!