The Ability of the Chief Executive Officer - Essay Example

Role of a CEO in leading an organization Role of a CEO in leading an organization Every organization desires to grow and become more successful. The chief executive officer offers the topmost leadership in an organization and in most cases determines how successful an organization becomes. The business environment requires a constant incremental improvement and hence the CEO must be on performance transformation. The CEO has various duties and responsibilities in an organization and will be the magnitude, and vision of the organization (Black, 2003, p. 9). CEO’s productivity may differ depending on the leadership style put in place. However, there are certain definite roles that all CEOs in leading organizations play. This paper will discuss the different responsibilities of CEO’s and will seek to establish whether the CEO is influential in rallying organizational culture. Role and responsibilities of a CEO The chief executive officer is the overall leader in an organization, and he is required to report to the board of governors. The CEO acts according to the will of the board of governors, and he implements their decisions and strategies. Since the CEO cannot manage the organization on a solo basis, he/she appoints other managers to whom he/she delegates roles and responsibilities (Hajdini, 2010, p. 39). The number and roles of subsequent managers depend on the organizational structure. The CEO is required to understand the goals of the organization and come up with ways of achieving the set goals. The CEO takes actions in place of the board of governors and he/she represents them in the daily operation of the business. The CEO is required to implement the decisions made by the board (Gitlow, 2004, p.87). He/she governs the organization on behalf of the board and therefore all decisions and strategies must be in line with what the board has decided. The CEO is entrusted with the responsibility of creating philosophies in the organization (Hajdini, 2010, p. 22). The philosophies created should be mission oriented and should favor the employees and the management. Most CEO’s have better academic qualification that members of the board and are the responsibility of designing strategies to accomplish the organizational goals. The CEO is the liaison between the board and the employees and therefore he/she ensures that the two groups linkup well. He/she acts as the link tool through communication between the two groups. The CEO understands the organization better than the board and hence is trusted on advising and informing them. The CEO oversees all the departments and liaises with the department heads to ensure that each department is working towards the set objectives and mission (Anonymous, 2011, retrieved from http://www.sterling-resources.com/docs/RolesAndRespCEO.pdf). He/she ensures that the quality of products or services that an organization produces are of the required standard and is accountable is the organization fails to reach certain standards. The CEO ensures that the organization’s goods or services are competitive in the market so that the organization remains profitable. The resources of the organization are in the care of the CEO. He/she is accountable for all the resources and gives annual reports on the resources. Through the accounting departments, the CEO recommends budgets for the organization to the board. The CEO makes the decision concerning the organizations long term business moves such as mergers, acquisitions and investments (Dishman, 2012, http://www.fastcompany.com/3001988/how-targets-ceo-inspires-teamwork-massive-scale). He/she has the obligation of ensuring that the business relates well with the employees in terms of working condition and salaries. He/she also ensures that the organization relates well with the public and the surrounding community. The CEO ensures that the needs of all the stakeholders are attended to and hence maintains harmony in the organization. The main role of the CEO is overseeing the economic aspect of the business. He/she therefore plans for the resources and ensures that the organization leaps maximum benefits. To increase the organizations productivity, the CEO is required to support and motivate the employees so that they increase their production. The CEO prospects future conditions and makes preparations for the changes. B doing so, the CEO reduces the risks of a business experiencing losses or failing. The CEO develops policies and plans that guide the staff on how to perform tasks and hence he determines the nature of production. Through the department managers, the CEO ensures that all operation takes place within a certain time frames and at the required standard. The CEO develops a strategic plan to achieve the overall organizational goals. The strategic plans a based on categorization of task and hence are bound to keep changing (Black, 2003, p. 93). Role of the CEO in rallying organizational culture A CEO is appointed to either maintain the organization’s position or help it grow to better levels. In most cases, they are required to transform the organization and take it to a better level. The CEO directs the operations of a business is required to make certain directions meaningful to the other employees. The employees will have the determination to impact certain changes if the CEO engages them by discussing the impact of a certain decision. The CEO should make any changes personal in such a way that he has a part to play in impacting the change. Willingness in a CEO is directly proportional to the willingness in the employees and the eventual success achieved (Harris. 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/business/new-walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-meets-investors.html?_r=0). The CEO therefore plays a role of personalizing the organizations vision and purpose and guides the employees to the achievement of the vision. Making a transformation in an organization requires energy and willingness. The CEO being the head of all the employees is required to the catalyst to the transformation. Transformation and growth are very challenging, and the CEO is required to make the employees believe that it is possible (Anonymous, 2011, retrieved from http://www.sterling-resources.com/docs/RolesAndRespCEO.pdf). The CEO should constantly motivate the employees and encourage them so that all organizational goals are achieved. A willing and devoted CEO will inspire the employees to achieve the goals. Inspiration begins with simple things such as the CEO remaining in office past normal hours or getting into the office ahead of time so as to complete the day’s assignments. Such a CEO will inspire the other employees to have the willingness not to carry forward any works and hence the organizations productivity increases. The CEO is required to be part of the change for them to influence employees. A successful CEO will organize meeting with department leaders and will give directions on how certain targets will be accomplished. Explanation of “how to get there” offer directions to the whole organization, and it increases the probability of success. Successful leaders such as Klaus, who was the CEO of Deutsche, have inspired the employees through their life stories and have eventually made their organization achieve a lot of success. Employees look up to their leaders and act in line with their leaders (Aiken & Keller, 2007, retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/the_ceos_role_in_leading_transformation). Due to this, the CEO motivation to work and commitment to success is adopted by the employees and eventually an organizational culture is developed. Changes in an organization are approved by the CEO. However, for the change to be and implemented well, the CEO must talk to the employees and debate about the change. Such actions make the decision for change personal for every employee and implementing the changes becomes an easy task. The CEO plays the role of making changes acceptable by employees. Changes may be the in form of organizational structures, production methods, marketing strategies or even hiring or firing of employees. The CEO is responsible for communicating and discussing such changes will the employees or department heads. Apart from making changes, the CEO also sets pace and targets for the organization (Carver, 2009, p. 43). After change has been accepted, the CEO is required to set departmental targets or individual target for the organization to achieve its goals. Like all leaders, the CEO should influence the mentality of the employee. The manner in which the employees will work largely depends on their mental perception of success. Creating a certain mentality towards goal achievement is done through constant communication between the employees and the CEO (Gitlow, 2004, p.188). In large organizations, direct communication between employees and the CEO might not be possible and hence the CEO is required to influence the employees through the department heads. The CEO is required to make the employees believe in the possibility of limitless achievement (Harris. 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/business/new-walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-meets-investors.html?_r=0). The CEO is the reinforcement of success and how he/she handles the employees makes them develop certain mentalities and attitudes. The mentality and attitudes of the employees are the building blocks of organizational culture and hence the CEO is influential in rallying organizational culture. The CEO should make it known to the employees how certain other successful companies managed to be successful. Success stories act as a spotlight to success. They motivate the employees and make them have the confidence to achieve even higher goals. Apart from encouraging the employee to adopt certain features, the CEO should also appreciate the prevailing efforts of the employees. Appreciating efforts of the employees will motivate the employees to achieve more. The CEO should tap the strengths, passion, creativity and aspiration to succeed from every employee. The CEO is expected to be the role model of all people in the organization. Being a role model, the employee will copy his/her traits and hence in the end the whole organization will act like him/her. The unintentional power to influence the employees makes up an organizations culture .therefore, it is clear that the CEO spearheads any organizational culture. The approaches that a CEO makes to a certain situation are adopted by the department managers and eventually by the employees. Leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi who are believed to be the best leaders in the world’s history influenced people through their actions rather than directives. A leader who is ready to take risky and extraordinary challenges transfers the same qualities to his followers. The CEO determines the willingness of the whole organization to step up to challenges. The CEO is the time manager in the whole organization. He/she decides what should be done and for how long it should be done. The CEO sets the time for which certain organizational goals will be accomplished. The CEO creates deadlines which determine the way employees will approach certain jobs. High and realistic targets within limited time frames increases productivity and makes hard work become part of the organization (Aiken & Keller, 2007, retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/the_ceos_role_in_leading_transformation). Time management not only helps in achieving certain set goals, but it also creates a culture of hard work and devotion to success. However, for the employees to be hard working the CEO should show personal sacrifice and willingness to work hard too. The CEO is influential in developing teamwork within the organization (Carver, 2009, p. 43). The strength and commitment of all the employees are by the efforts of the CEO to make the organization a team. Successful CEO’s encourage equality regardless of titles. Such CEO’s are friendlier to the employees which make the employee feel like part of the team. When a CEO reduces the title gap, they encourage teamwork among all employees regardless of titles. Such cultures originate for the CEO and hence they play a vital role in defining organizational culture. The ability of the CEO to assess various situations and act effectively creates the norm of doing things. The ability of the CEO to identify when the motivation of the employees is low and to act by devising a way to rectify the situation is influential towards developing a certain culture. The relentlessness of the CEO to bring in impact acts as a motivational factor to the employees (Dishman, 2012, http://www.fastcompany.com/3001988/how-targets-ceo-inspires-teamwork-massive-scale). The employees in turn act relentlessly in achieving the aims set by the CEO. Directing personal energy to the job is passed from the CEO to the employees and hence the whole organization ends up working uniformly. Continuous uniformity of work becomes a trend and finally becomes a requirement or else a culture in the organization. The CEO delegates roles and holds the managers accountable for certain roles. The CEO offers direction on how the roles will be and hence his ideas are transferred to the employees (Tansky & Heneman, 2006, p. 152). Ideas on how to perform tasks make sum up to an organizational culture. In conclusion, the CEO is influential to an organizations culture. The ways in which a CEO performs their roles will determine the kind of culture that an organization will have. Bibliography Aiken, C., & Keller, S. 2007, February. The CEO’s role in leading transformation | McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/the_ceos_role_in_leading_transformation Anonymous. 2011, January. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER. Retrieved from http://www.sterling-resources.com/docs/RolesAndRespCEO.pdf Black, R. J. 2003. Organisational culture: Creating the influence needed for strategic success. Dissertation.com. United States Carver, M. M. 2009. Adjacent leadership roles: CGO and CEO: a Carver policy governance guide. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco. Dishman, L. 2012, October 10. How Targets CEO Inspires Teamwork At A Massive Scale | Fast Company | Business + Innovation. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/3001988/how-targets-ceo-inspires-teamwork-massive-scale Gitlow, A. L. 2004. Being the boss: The importance of leadership and power. Beard Books. Washington, DC. Hajdini, I. 2010. Innovation Management: The Leadership Role of the CEO: Case studies: Yahoo and Google. GRIN München. Verlag GmbH. Harris, E. 2014, June 6. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/business/new-walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-meets-investors.html?_r=0 Tansky, J. W., & Heneman, R. L. 2006. Human resource strategies for the high growth entrepreneurial firm. Information Age Pub. Greenwich, Conn. Read More