Many people claim that they deserve to be in a leadership position. In an organization, the top leaders are part of the C-Suite. They are your Chief Executive Officer – CEO, Chief Financial Officer – CFO, Chief Operating Officer – COO, Chief Technology Officer – CTO, etc. The CEO is the boss of bosses and the others report to him. In many large companies, there is a board of directors. That board hires and fires the CEO. These are the top leaders of any corporation. They create policies, allocate resources, and develop strategies to carry out the company’s mission.
To get to C-Suite, you have to have a certain mindset. It’s a mindset most don’t have. There are two things that most people don’t understand about C-Suite. However, they still believe that they can function at this level. Therein lies the dilemma.
The first is the idea or image of being a leader. Most people believe that leaders exist to tell others what to do. If you are telling your people what to do, you are either a lousy leader or you hired the wrong people. Either way, it is the result of leadership skills or lack thereof. Steve Jobs said it best. “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people to tell us what to do.”
Bob Weissman, former CEO of Dun & Bradstreet, said that people should know how to do 90-95% of their work without your support. It is that 5%-10% need support from the CEO or boss.
The second challenge can be a bigger hurdle for those seeking a leadership position. That challenge revolves around the need to constantly engage in abstract thinking. Leadership is where possibility comes to life. The possibility begins as an abstract idea or vision of the CEO. It is the job of C-Suite members to make that possibility a reality. Think of John F. Kennedy’s vision of sending a man to the moon before the end of the decade. He didn’t describe what it looks like or how it would be accomplished. It was the job of other leaders to do that. Kennedy provided resources and participated in a strategy to achieve the vision.
Many people are uncomfortable with abstract ideas. They call them theories. And they demand that the conversation focus on concrete realities. With that mindset, it would be hard to survive in the C-Suite.
If you think it’s your job to tell people what to do, chances are you’re a micromanager. Micromanagers don’t keep top performers. Those best artists leave. Perhaps executives micromanage because they are unable to think in abstractions. They get into the brush because the brush is cement. Thinking at a high level is visionary. As a visionary, you need to know which people to hire so that they can transform your vision into a desirable product or service.
If these two ideas make you uncomfortable and you still want to be a leader, it may be time to hire an executive coach. A great coach will help you get rid of belief systems that sabotage your future as a leader. If you’re already sabotaging your business, find a coach right away. No Olympic athlete competes without one. Why you should?
