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Article from People Today, Hong Kong, November 2000
The CEO Survival Kit
Is career management meant only for the troops or is it also for the chief?
Sad to say the answer may not be too obvious to some CEOs. The fact is that the paid-CEO’s job is at as much risk as his subordinates. In fact, the CEO is often at more risk since his is the most visible and senior position there is in any organization. This fact, coupled with the reality that most, if not all, CEO-level positions are paid the highest amount of compensation on the payroll, makes the position even more prone to performance scrutiny.
Besides the usual steps one has to take in relation to managing one’s career e.g., taking a self-audit at regular intervals, what else can the CEO do to stay afloat?
Sanders & Sidney, the largest career management group in the UK, conducted a survey that revealed the five main points that CEOs uphold.
Most organizations, especially the listed ones, make annual announcements to their shareholders regarding their business goals and strategies at the beginning of each financial year. As the organization’s CEO delivering the speech, you must ensure that you follow through and deliver what has been said and promised. Not only must you do this, what is more important is that you must be seen doing it. Like it or not you are always under the watchful eyes of shareholders and employees. In some cases being seen ‘walking the talk’ can save your job should forecasted performance not take place due to unforeseen circumstances.
Managing spending is another talent which CEOs posses. The Asian Wall Street Journal reported recently that Thomas O. Ryder, CEO of Reader’s Digest, in order to manage costs, ordered the sale of the organization’s private jet as well as a US$100 million art collection.
Managing costs is, arguably, one of the most crucial tasks of the CEO, regardless of the size of your business. Ask any successful businessman and he will tell you that managing the kitty or cash flow well is one of the key factors leading to success. When the business grows, this key skill continues to be applicable.
One of the things CEOs do not do is delegate their role. They do not delegate key tasks such as managing investor relationships and providing financial commentary. This does not need elaboration, though I would like to share a good example of how delegation can go very wrong. We worked with a MD of a tire-manufacturing organization. The American MD was based in Taiwan. His 15-year high-flying record in the same company was extinguished as one of his lieutenants was tasked to a meeting with the media. In the absence of the CEO he conveyed the wrong financial statements which completely misled the media and hence the public. The press reported the following day that the company’s share prices plummeted 26 per cent.
Another example to reinforce this point: we had worked with a Singaporean MD of a chemicals firm. In his absence he was voted out of the company, as he did not get along with the key players on the board. During his outplacement he was coached on how to make things work better in his next job. In his new position, he put the lesson he learnt to good use – he made certain that whatever changes he wanted to make in his initial months was supported by all board members before he implemented them. It cost him a little extra time but it worked.
Be it sealing a business deal or networking to look for greener pastures.
At the corporate level, your role as CEO should be strategic and peering ahead into the future to ensure your organization stays on course while you are at the wheel and keeping your shareholders happy.
Paul Heng
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