business climate

Why do so many companies want to fire their CEO? – CBS News

Why do so many companies want to fire their CEO? – CBS News

This is a great article written by Margaret Heffernan for CBS Moneywatch. She discusses how CEOs are not prepared for the role and therefore don’t know what to do when they achieve it (my mantra for this blog). As I’ve written about before, most CEOs have gotten the job because they were superstar performers in their careers, meaning they have specialized knowledge in marketing, sales, engineering or another function. But the CEO role entails a unique set of responsibilities. As Heffernan says, “But once they assume senior executive positions, they need entirely different skills: networking, knowledge-gathering, consensus building, listening. They should be good at this – so why aren’t they?”

Top 10 posts of 2013

In case you missed them, here are my most-viewed blog posts of 2013:

  1. Support oddballs in your company culture
  2. Texas vs. California: Texas Wins
  3. CEOs: Employee engagement matters
  4. How executives hire: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on finding motivated employees
  5. The million dollar hire
  6. 5 Responsibilities of a CEO: Own the Vision
  7. When do you hire for job experience vs. raw talent?
  8. 10 Steps to a Nine Figure+ Exit
  9. The No Asshole Policy and Company Culture
  10. 5 Responsibilities of a CEO: Make Good Decisions

No CEO for Obamacare a bad idea

White House Rejects Idea Of Creating An Obamacare CEO

The idea of a CEO for Obamacare is so obvious that it is hard to believe there could be any disagreement. The Affordable Care Act is a huge endeavor that would test even the best CEO. The resistance from the administration as outlined in this Business Insider article reminds me of a startup CEO who won’t give up any control to his team. When this happens in a 50-person startup, it often causes serious issues that threaten the viability of the company. When it happens in an entity the size of the federal government, it is a recipe for disaster.

Are You Running Out of Time to Show Customer Value?

Each interaction with a customer is an opportunity to either earn loyalty or alienate. This conclusion is true whether your company provides products to mass markets like McDonald’s, or for specialized use, like those provided by GE.  Companies have only limited amounts of time to demonstrate value but unfortunately, many have yet to realize this.