As you trail the path of this piece, it is important to note that this is not just for Company Chief Executives but for everyone that has decided to become responsible either by being saddled with leading people, or has the vision of doing so to achieve any task.
A major task that daunts many in life is being a point’s man in any project. Most of the time, people prefer to either lead from the middle wrung of the ladder or to back up a much more flashier partner; due to the fact that the point’s man takes all the risks associated with the task, accepts responsibility of the failure in any endeavor of the team and as a good leader, must share the victory with the entire team. This is a responsibility; few people are willing and able to take.
A whole lot is attached to being a leader especially someone who is prime at it such as a new CEO, that if not properly handled can affect one’s stay in that position. It is no gainsay, to mention that everyone is a CEO at some point in their lives, as there are some persons he or she leads, and in reality, no one can force himself on people to lead them and really be successful. If you are leading any group and you are making progress, it owes to the fact that, you are doing it right working with the people, otherwise, the management or board that put you there with expectancy of results, won’t hesitate to replace you with a more promising option.
Leading people requires you to show yourself responsible and credible: taking initiative, making sacrifices, having competences in certain areas, both soft and technical. In leadership, mere personality, that is, a mere public image, and not your true character, which is the real principles of living that you have imbibed, is danger impending. Therefore, to be successful especially as the new leader isn’t laborious when leadership isn’t just your personality but your true character. The reason is as the point’s man, your life gains maximum attention, your flaws become apparent, your subordinates have an extra duty of understanding you, and your reports which is a reflection of your real person becomes the enthusiasm of the board or management that has set you in that position.
So, here is how to get started with being the new CEO:
Be the leader: Leadership is beyond position; it is the ability to lead yourself and others effectively. One very useful tip in being the leader is to view the new position as a privilege, realizing your accountability to your followers and higher authorities.
During my undergraduate days in Crawford University, at my new appointment as a director of the largest group on campus, after we had been introduced and congratulated by the Vice Chancellor and all the management of the organization, we had a meeting with our then president. In the meeting, the president said something that got to me, and I reiterate “if there is noise during your departmental meeting where you are the director but your effort to restore order seems futile, and there appears someone from the crowd who asks the people to be quiet, if they all obey him without hesitation, consider yourself a figure-head”. Certain things can be responsible for that; the chief of them might be lack of interest in following you due to lack of trust in you, their unbelief in your leadership abilities, or your character flaws.
While I occupied that position, I had an assistant who had been in that department even before I gained admission. He knew everything about the department and had sacrificed a lot for that organization. He had enough strength, knowledge and connection to be the point man, but for some reasons, I was picked. I had a lot of personal issues with this assistant because he was bitter about my privileged appointment. Honestly, I was initially intimidated. I felt like a round peg in a square hole.
On our first day working together, he made me carry heavy equipment and do tasks that revealed he was the real leader…That continued till the end of the session which made our president worried, and he asked me to do something about it. During the holiday, I spread out my wings and did the following which helped me resume as the leader of the department:
I got a vision for the department. I drew a blue print, and wrote out clearly the role everyone had to play in achieving the vision.
I developed more technical skills by reading and learning from my contemporaries elsewhere.
I kept in touch with all members of the team, putting a call through to each of them as regular as I could, preparing their minds for the things I wanted us to achieve as a team upon resumption of the new session.
I also planned, for our first meeting in the new session.
Catching a vision for the organization
My holy book says “where there is no vision, the people perish”. Perishing not only pertains to the physical body. When there is no vision, an organization will perish, and usually the point’s man, the CEO, the man at the helms of affairs is the first to perish. In fact, others that are wise may escape before the perishing gets to them.
Knowing where you are going as leader that is having a vision, is very essential; it determines who you will take along, it determines if the people you intend to take along will be willing to follow you, because nobody follows a man without a definite vision. Having a vision keeps you going in the face of challenges.
Developing the required skills to be the effective CEO
Having a vision is not sufficient in itself, it is equally essential to know how you intend to get there. A wise man once said “The labor of the foolish wearies every one of them because he knows not how to go to the city”. The destination in view here is the city, the CEO must know how to go there, and he must be able to confidently lead the organization in their journey to the ‘city’.
In every organization where I have worked and lead with results, the first thing I learn about is the goal or vision of the organization, and how I can lead in achieving their goals or vision.
This article is by Okuazun Gideon Jayeola,
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