- How is your performance and your performance credibility? Of course you have to deliver results, but you’re unlikely to do so if you haven’t developed performance forecasts for the next eight quarters, not just the usual four. You should have ideas now for changes you may have to make six to eight quarters out. Increasingly this is a challenge in this new industrial age given how quickly the ecosystem is shifting and the turbulence organizations are experiencing. But that is no excuse for not scanning to see what’s threats and/or opportunities are emerging that can be exploited or mitigated.
- Are you focused on the basics of execution? You should feel connected to the flow of information about your company and its markets; that includes regular, direct interaction with customers and front-line employees. Management by walkabout is a good thing. Are you following through on all major commitments from your direct reports? Are you listening to the inner voice telling you whether these things are going well or badly? Strategies fail not because you’re poorly crafted but rather we fail to execute.
- Is bad news coming to you regularly? Every company, even the most successful, has bad news, usually lots of it. If you’re not hearing it, are you letting the trouble build? The information you get should force you to take competitors seriously. Focus on asking what is it that is not going well?
- Is your board doing what it should? That means evaluating you and your direct reports, asking for information about your markets, and demanding a succession plan-but not formulating strategy (your job) or trying to manage operations. Indeed if you find the Board is digging into your areas it indicate they may be losing confidence and considering a change in the occupant of the corner office.
- Is your own team discontented? Top subordinates often start bailing out before a CEO goes down. Key person is the CFO. In the Army found if the troops are ‘bitching’ that’s a good sign– if the troops go ‘sullen’ — you have a problem. Watch for this!
Situational awareness is a key attribute for CEO’s.
