Positive Leadership has also been recognised as a Top 50 Leadership Expert to Follow on Twitter.

Follow us on Twitter @posleadership


LEADERSHIP IS A PROCESS OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE, WHICH MAXIMISES THE EFFORTS OF OTHERS TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF A SHARED GOAL.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Positive Leadership: The True Essence of a CEO


When you hear of CEOs, you are probably inclined to think of perks and corner offices. You might also consider the adjectives “greedy, aloof and egocentric”. While in some cases this is warranted, we wonder about how much we like to glorify the role of a CEO.

For centuries people have been intrigued by the idea of power. We see the stereotype portrayed in bestselling books and movies. And countless studies have certainly supported the belief that people in power are created equal. 

Winston Churchill said: the price of greatness is responsibility. That is what we believe is the true essence of a CEO – the responsibility to your employees, customers, community and shareholders. Yes of course, being a CEO gives you the platform to affect change, to make something happen that you otherwise did not have the ‘power’ to do before. But it is the responsibility that is of most value. Nothing is pre-conceived and there is in fact a long road to earning that responsibility.

Being appointed the CEO by a board of directors or shareholder does not make you a leader, but leading is a CEO’s primary responsibility. A CEO is really only empowered and fueled by the confidence that he has earned the trust of his colleagues.

Trust plays a crucial role in the success of a business. And Stephen M.R. Covey believed this. He wrote a book called Smart Trust to highlight how leading companies that have built high-trust relationships with their employees and customers, consistently outperformed non high-trust companies up to three times. 

The typical stereotype of a CEO will continue to make headlines. But as the world changes we need to document better examples and inspire other leaders to take themselves off the pedestals, break down the barriers and tip the scale in the other direction. Whether CEOs are born or made has little significance. It is our firm belief that you are measured by the responsibility, honesty and integrity in which you lead.

Share/Save/Bookmark