Should the CEO challenge himself and get out of his comfort zone?

CEO leadership is one of the four pillars of strategic discipline, according to my book "The Discipline of Strategy Execution."

An article in Forbes a few months ago outlined the essential tasks that no CEO should delegate in connection with this idea of CEO leadership. However, in recent years, delegation of certain tasks has increased.

To illustrate this, we share the answers we received during our discussions with some CEOs on achieving their goals, strategies, and vision.

The problem

While 90% of management teams believe they are in line with strategic priorities, 80% of companies fail to meet their strategic goals in 3–5 years!

How do you explain this inadequacy? Would you be interested in driving more effective execution of your strategy?

| Answer 1 |:

“Implementation of the strategy is not our priority.”

If the execution of the strategy is not the CEO’s priority, it is because he is too involved in everyday life. If that is the case, he is only a manager, and the company expects the CEO to be a leader rather than a manager. It is essential for the CEO to delegate daily tasks so that the tasks related to the implementation of the strategy become its priorities. If the CEO believes he lacks the necessary skills to delegate, it is crucial to enhance these skills to enable him to concentrate on the crucial tasks associated with his CEO role and the company's future.

| Answer 2 |:

“We think we are very excited about this subject at the level of our very numerous and regular Comex/CoDir, Supervisory Councils, Strategic Committees, etc.”

Indeed, many companies master the "too many" meetings, Comex, CoDir, Strategic Committees, etc., but are you among the 20% of companies that achieve 80% or more of their strategic goals in 3–5 years?

• If the answer is yes, then Bravo! Do not change anything; you have an exemplary mode of operation that could serve as “best practice” for many.
• If the answer is no, maybe your “many meetings” are not that effective, and could you open up to new approaches?

?

| Answer 3 |:

"We've grown 50% over the year, so all indicators are green." I do not need advice or support.”

While such growth is indeed remarkable, our experience accompanying leadership teams for over 20 years allows us to understand that this type of growth is often associated with an external climate that is favorable to them. Several years later, many of the CEOs we've encountered in these situations face dismissal from their positions. Indeed, if the company does not anticipate a less favorable economic situation, the impact on its performance can quickly become catastrophic.

For this reason, even if the company has remarkable results, it is necessary to organize and prepare for the more difficult times that will not fail to arrive in the years to come.

But it is true that it is delicate to question yourself when everything seems to work.

| Answer 4 |:

"We hold semi-annual meetings to discuss our transformation projects that align with our strategy, and we also arrange ad hoc meetings with the project manager when a breakdown occurs."

From our point of view, the periodicity of semesters is too long. To become an agile business, you must be able to identify or even anticipate deviations as early as possible. The longer you wait, the more likely you are to delay the strategic trajectory without having the opportunity to catch it.

When we talk about a monthly periodicity, the answer we get most often is as follows:

"We already have too much work to handle daily operational issues; we lack the time to dedicate each month to the strategy's implementation."

This response from a CEO is both surprising and revealing, isn't it? The challenge lies in successfully aligning the strategy with operational priorities while allocating the necessary time without compromising daily tasks. This is where the process of driving the implementation of the strategy and the associated discipline are of great importance. Find the right balance between the RUN (daily operational activity) and the BUILD (the strategic path to prepare for the future).

Furthermore, we believe that the strategy adaptation (necessary in light of the detected deviations) should be a team decision-making process that is collaborative and consensual at the highest level of the company.

Indeed, the challenge will be the rapid implementation of this adaptation, which itself will depend on effective coordination between all the directions involved in this implementation. It is crucial for all the actors in the leadership team to validate any change in the strategic trajectory, as the balance of this trajectory hinges on the existing interrelationships between all directions.

Lead and manage differently.

In summary, these examples of responses highlight the strategy's failure in implementation and underscore the need for the CEO to challenge himself and step out of his current comfort zone in order to bring about a change in the leadership team's management system. Without this awareness, it will have little chance of being part of, sustainably, the 20% who are reaching 80% or more of the strategic objectives in 3–5 years.