The title alone, CEO, can provide disproportionate clout relative to abilities.Understanding this phenomenon should result in more than an ego trip.Think of it as a mystical superpower that can be leveraged for the good.
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I was retained as an independent advisor. Later, I was invited into the company. My undetermined role would evolve, but a title was of little consequence. My initial activities didn’t change much when we later decided to give me the title CEO, but the impact of those three letters was significant.
When we think CEO, we might conjure up leaders of Fortune 500 corporations. Well, there are 500 of them. Then there’s the rest of us. Adding CEO to my title had a noticeable impact on prospects, established clients, and others. It enhanced my ability to widen my public role and our company’s visibility.
Depending on the size of the business and the responsibilities required of the CEO, one-on-one time with prospects, clients, suppliers, and engagement in civic activities can highly impact sales, revenue, and relationships. Our operations attracted a steady stream of client prospects, their potential investors, and industry figures. As part of our new Welcoming Guests format, I personally led facility tours, engaged in discussions about their projects, and learned about their businesses.
With or without a title, I could relate to these visitors – including investors who counted on our expertise to protect their potential or actual investments in a new project, often promoted by a novice entrepreneur. Considerable risk capital was usually at stake. I took that responsibility seriously and always provided candid feedback. When appropriate, I even tried to talk potential clients out of squandering their money on projects with little chance of success. I respected all of them—their talent, ambition, resourcefulness, dreams, and, in some cases, their resilience in the face of failed projects. In all these situations, meeting with “the CEO” gave them added confidence in our company.
Each organization’s circumstances will help define the role of the CEO. However that shakes out, grasping the potential of the title, aside from the leader’s underlying abilities, can be leveraged to positive and powerful impact.
An overwhelming CEO ego is not required. I don’t how this might resonate with CEOs or those teaching “Leadership” in an MBA program, but this is part of my daily meditation, which I find relevant to this topic:
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May I be humble; may I be courageous.
