The CEO / President “They don’t need me anymore syndrome”
What do you do if you’re lucky (and more than good) to reach a point where everyone is performing and achieving your corporate goals? The business is profitable, customers, shareholders and employees are happy.
That’s when “They don’t need me anymore syndrome “kicks in!
OMG ………. What do we do now? What are your thoughts ?
Perhaps it is time to find employers that can help you to get there.
Remove your firefighter suit and grab the visionary one!
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
In theory, the role of Quality Assurance has always been to put itself out of business. That being said, I believe that the term is called “Continuous Improvement” for a good reason; there is no such thing as not broken don’t fix…We must always looking for all elements of business process to improve. If one is working well, look for the un-obvious ones, or the ones that folks complain about the most, that may not fall under the typical auspices of “quality”. As a quality professional, I have been actively involved in many non traditional BPI activities.
Continuous means just that, everything under review.
Benjamin Verson
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:06 pm
In theory, every CEO’s job is to provide excellent returns for shareholders and work themselves out of a job by training people who can replace them.
When that day comes you can either expand the company or look for new opportunities knowing that your firm is in excellent hands.
Marsha Keeffer
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I have been in this situation at the CEO level once serving what was already intended to be an interim role, and at the VP/COO level in a role that the company grew away from needing. In the latter case, I was also the person responsible for eliminating roles that were no longer needed, and therefore had the fairly unique situation of recommending my own layoff to the CEO, when neither the company nor I wanted to part ways. The fact, however, was that I had successfully built a team around me that could between them cover quite competently what I did, at less cost.
Although it is naturally a bit of a shock to realize that your time has come and gone, it is also a gateway to your next opportunity. I think people who essentially displace themselves as a result of the work they do, generally don’t fear the next challenge or the process of finding it.
But not being needed isn’t necessarily the result of good work or successfully meeting goals. Sometimes it’s a matter of changing circumstances beyond the scope of the leader’s influence, and at other times it can be the result of failure. But even in these cases there is commendable integrity to the self-realization that one is no longer needed, vs. the human temptation to attempt to contrive a continuation to being needed, counter to the goals of the company.
David North
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:30 pm
It sound to me like you have achieved success in having everything aligned just the way it should be. It is nice to know that things are ticking along exactly as they need to be.
Now for the next challenge! And I don’t think that means moving on, that means taking on the next business challenge. In my experience there is always another challenge, another problem to fix.
Peter B. Giblett
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Thanks Peter, David, Marsha and Ben
This is my take on it……. For those in this stage perhaps is the time to become more social accountable. Can we redesign our products or services to become more environmental friendly? Can we work with our supply chain to do the same?
How can we integrate the company vision with our community, the place we live and the sustainability of our planet? What can we do to become an employer of choice?
The job is never 100% ……. this is what we call continuous improvement right?
Thanks a lot for your feedback and please keep in touch
Edison Reis
http://www.QualityAssuranceManagement.com
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
Adjust the Corporate goals, they are not challenging enough if you are meeting all of them. Greater vision to the next plateau is essential, or market yourself to a more challenging opportunity, write a book about your success, etc. Don’t be satisfied, it is the fastest way to lose focus and any competitive edge.
Bob Bauchat
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:48 am
I cannot imagine a scenario where a CEO or President is not needed. I see that your job title is Director of Operations. The main goal of any leader, whether CEO or Director of Operations is not to solve manufacturing problems or operational problems but to provide vision and create an atmosphere where his people can solve the problems while they grow and develop and earn a living.
Where should your operation be in a year, in 5 years, in 10 years? What do you need to do to get them there? How will you change their mindsets or help them grow into that direction? Are all your folks pulling in the same direction? How do you encourage corporate values, grow teamwork, grow leadership, grow innovation?
There are lots of things to tackle.
William Durkin
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
We should all be so lucky…
On the other hand, no company ever “arrives”. It might be in good shape, but there are always new hills to conquer. One job of the CEO is figure out what hills they are. That by itself can be a full-time job.
Josh.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:33 am
Based on my experience, there is always something that can be done by the CEO / President of any organisation. Apart from ‘being there’ and ‘leading’, it is very often the case that anyone making such a statement may be misleading him/herself and might be resting on the proverbial laurels!
Should one find that such a privileged position were indeed true, then there is always the opportunity to diversify, simplify or just be plain creative and find new opportunities or mitigate threats which may be round the corner.
The dynamics of the world we live in are such that there is never a dull moment!
Sergio Galea
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:34 am
That’s the best time to be a CEO. When you aren’t focused on getting the financials where they ‘need’ to be for the end of quarter conference call with shareholders and analysts you can focus on where the enterprise should be 10, 20, maybe 50 years from now - and start formulating that into policy deployment objectives. You can step back and develop and mentor the next layer of key players. You can do genchi genbutsu and go spend time with the people and processes that directly add value to your customers. What a great time to be the CEO.
Bruce Baker
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:36 am
I know this point in time well.. It’s mixed between elation for the client and OMG now what. I learned a great and useful practice from a business coach colleague … to celebrate with the client in practical and emotional detail what they have accomplished working with me. It is important to do the celebration - which can be done by talking about all the good things that can come from the completion of the work/accomplishment, and how it feels. It does take some planning and time for this. As a result we together seem to always identify new areas where I can be of further help to the client.
Rick Raymond
Richard Raymond Associates, Inc.
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I can completely relate - and felt that way about 6 months ago. I really focused on ensuring my Managers were working to their highest potential - and delegated like crazy - helping them to stretch…just in time to be downsized (10% of us). That upper middle management is always the first to be considered when things are running really smoothly.
While shocking, it wasn’t unexpected. The company needed to downsize a bit - and frankly, my success in the last few years was measured by the fact that they really didn’t think they needed me. I pretty quickly found a new gig - and it feels great to be really needed again - I realized that I am not a good maintainer - I’m a fantastic builder and visionary.
The Managers I left behind are doing great - so it seems everything happens for a reason, because if I hadn’t specifically decided to focus on their readiness for succession, it could have been a pretty negative experience all around.
Think about what really gets you excited - maybe you’re more of a builder too - and then be proactive about it - whether that’s in a new company, or in a different department, or as you suggested, in a whole new area of quality.
Good Luck!
Jackie Torfin
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Always the “thought provocateur”!!! Well done!!… I don’t believe it can/should ever happen, let me explain my point of view…
Like I was saying earlier (please see my answer about micro-managing), I do believe that any good executive should be both a good leader AND a good manager in his/her field, and preferably in at least one other field too. And that applies to the CEO too, who should be the leader of the leaders and everybody else in the company, as well as the manager of the managers, and who therefore should have very good notions in every field, that is on how to manage each department of the company.
Now, if the CEO was good enough to surround him/herself with the best executives for the company, all of them very good leaders and very good managers in their fields, then he/she might just feel he/she’s not needed anymore… But I think that, in any case, it couldn’t be farther from the truth!
Firstly, because this kind of ideal situation will never exist, and people being people, there will always be times when the CEO will be required to solve conflicts, or practice some needed “intervention” in one department or another. I do believe it is a fallacy to think that you can ever stop managing and coaching your people, and even more so in the case of a CEO.
Secondly, because even if the time spent managing has been reduced to its minimum, a CEO is still the leader of everybody else, and he should still inspire everybody to keep moving forward, to keep trying to improve and always do better, find new ways to please customers, streamline processes and procedures, improve internal and external communication, etc.. You know: the famous “continuous improvement loop” in the Baldrige, so often neglected!… The CEO is still expected to walk the talk, and to keep reinventing him/herself!
Lastly, let’s not forget the primary responsibility of a CEO is to stir the company in the right direction, to wear the visionary suit precisely, and he/she will always be needed for such purpose.
To conclude, if a CEO ever experiences that syndrome, then I would say it’s time for him/her to step down and leave the hot seat to a more realistic person who is convinced the job of a CEO is never finished!!
Thank you for such a great discussion!
Didier Jupillat
December 4th, 2008 at 9:51 am
The true distinction is between leadership and management. Most manager are not leaders and that is their personal problem, under which the rest of the organization is suffering, because they also can’t restrain themself form power abuse and avoid the point of power sharing.
Lutz Filor
December 4th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Certainly is a great place to be! I would agree that its time to focus on the vision for the future and the CEO can work on Becoming a Coaching Leader (see book by the same title). The goal being to help others reach their professional and personal goals. When the CEO has an opportunity like this to really focus on others versus putting out fires or being in the trenches, he/she has reached their sweet spot.
Mary Banks
December 4th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Think about human resource development and succession plannning.
Since your team is meeting it’s mission (goals and objectives) think about reaching your vision (what you want to become).
Michael Vella
December 4th, 2008 at 9:54 am
The fun thing about continuous improvement is that you are never done. I am always looking to cut costs to make even more money, and I will never believe that I have as low of an operating cost as possible.
Brent Benning
December 4th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Good your question, but think also in your competitors, and what they are doing now?, make a benchmark, analyze the state of the art in your biz. core and think if your company is on the way and move in new products, innovation and more competitive globally.
Jose A. Esparza
December 4th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Yes, day to day activities change….no longer fire fighting/management now its all about leadership, continuous improvement, vision.
Tammy DeMartino
December 4th, 2008 at 9:58 am
This is a situation that is not as uncommon as you may think. Unfortunately, as they say in stock prospectuses, “current performance does not guarantee future results.” The situation where “the business is profitable, customers, shareholders and employees are happy” is often one that occurs in spite of rather than because of the effectiveness (or lack) of the quality improvement efforts. It’s important to asses the level of waste and the COPQ present in your processes to determine which category your business falls into. To the extent you are succeeding in spite of high waste or COPQ, that success is likely to be short- lived and the proactive reduction of waste/ COPQ is the appropriate approach.
Dennis Monroe
December 5th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Focus on strategic Business Development.
Roy White
December 8th, 2008 at 10:38 am
If you’re ever lucky enough to get there, then sit back, and enjoy it while you can. Staying there is easier than getting there (perhaps 40 hour weeks instead of 60), but it’s not guaranteed. You’re still needed. If you leave you may get the unfortunate and painful opportunity to watch something that took you years of hard work to put together crumble in a matter of months. Don’t for a minute think that just because you picked your successor things are going to go smooth - THEY WON’T.
Craig Askins
December 8th, 2008 at 10:43 am
It is then that they need you the more. Take a symphonic orchestra. Have you ever seen a great one without a great chief ! no. And at the end even if each musician is the best in its domain, only the name of the leader will remain.
If you have reached this point it is because you have been able to transfer your vision and your behavior to your staff. Imagine what will happen if you miss them ! Without your vision what will they do. So if you are in this case please go ahead and continue as you have done and even go further in the visionary domain.
regards
Michel Ragot
December 8th, 2008 at 10:48 am
As always - a great question from you! I wonder….. I’ve been thinking a lot about the city bonuses and all that wealth in a few hands. And I’ve been thinking that many very successful people (in the wealth sense) are “self made”. That is, they have come from very challenging backgrounds and “made good”. I remember laughing with the wonderful Brian Mayne (LIFT International) that I had far too many opportunities, qualifications and life advantages to ever be REALLY successful - as the ones who make it right up the tree have often started in adversity - not the privileged childhood that I had!
I have been wondering if the current financial services crisis may be to do with lots of people getting “stuck” in the lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. OK, so if you are a self-made success story, and now have enough - wouldn’t it be natural to seek to acquire more and more.
Yet, at some point, this materialistic hunter, gather, hoarding reflex is no longer fulfilling and the highly successful (Bill Gates, Richard Branson etc) start to turn to philanthropic duties to get the same ‘feel good’ factor.
I think that the CEO whose organisation is optimised as you suggest can find the challenge of moving him/herself further up the Maslow hierarchy - and bring the organisation further up that too. So that “work” becomes a journey of personal growth and development - towards “self-actualisation” - rather than just a corporate success.
That would be a really massive challenge. To do that without becoming some cult or false religion. To allow freedom of expression and different views of the world. I think that Fisher, Rooke and Torbert’s book “Personal and Organizational Transformations through Action Inquiry” would fascinate you at this stage.
Best wishes,
Emma
December 8th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Hello all,
If the quest of perfection are not strong enough to motivate yourself and the team, what about thinking of something beyond business? There are aspects as social work, spiritual management and other things that can give you a meaning to continuing the great work you have done. Why not get together with you team to reflect about next steps, counting on good speakers from different areas as the ones I mention above? May be it seems crazy, but there is examples of organizations doing that. The only thing I would tell you not to do is to start from the beginning in another place, because I think every hard worker deserve a piece of heaven in earth.
Rosana Tramontina Zuanetti
December 8th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
When no cost savings other than your salary cut is possible, think you are grown larger than your current portfolio wants you to. You need to change anything among portfolio, company or industry, in that sequence,whichever is feasible at the earliest.
Vijay Kumar Saini
December 8th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Awesome to see this discussion progressing well and allowing everyone to share their point of views.
I am not there yet but I was curious to see how you would behave against this interesting challenge.
Thanks for participating and please keep coming back !
Edison Reis
http://www.QualityAssuranceManagement.com
December 14th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Maybe bring in a person “outside the box” to come and take a snapshot. You may be surprised what an outsider’s set of eyes will reveal.
Dale Clark
December 28th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I’d agree with Dale and Douglas. First, make sure that the impression of perfection is shared by all levels. It’s quite possible that there’s an employee-level or production-level problem which the rank and file have known about forever but don’t have the authority to fix.
Then there’s improvement. Your suppliers might have excellent prices, but are they the best you can get hold of? Your markets could be going well, but are there other areas you might be able to target? Do your facilities lend themselves to perhaps being upgraded to make them more flexible or powerful? Is there a portion of your capacity which you could rent out to other businesses?
It really is nice to be in a position where you’re not fighting fires for a while, and everything major is either done and delivered or ticking along smoothly. But of course that’s not all a CEO is hired to do…
Steve Davidson
December 28th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
That is a dangerous position
I will bet anything that if you get your managers together and make it safe for them to originate issues, you will find many other areas to improve.
These types of discussions are very valuable to our management team, and I for one find that it helps us set a higher standard and feeds the visionary in all of us.
Douglas Cook
December 28th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
It is a great position to be in I would think. I also believe you are right in that the “next step” is one of vision. Some thoughts I would ponder are …. What processes that you currently outsource can you bring internal and shorten your supply chain and thus Lead Time? How much more
of the market could you capture if your lead time were cut 50% What new products can you offer with slight modification to your existing platform.
One of my sensei’s gave me some insight in the form of a quote I’ll never forget – you cannot cut (cost reduction) your way to first place. Enjoy this time of success and then look for ways to take market share or expand your business offerings. This doesn’t mean adding people necessarily or enlarging your footprint instead how can you improve your profitability without adding costs.
Kirk Eaton
December 28th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
You cant stop, you have to start from square one, find a case for change, or create it. This will lead you for the next target
Itzhak יצחק Ben-Levy בן-לוי
December 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Start grooming your replacement?
Slightly off topic but one syndrome I have seen for years is a reluctance on the part of some people to have subordinates qualified to replace them. This is generally out of fear that if their number 2 is qualified, they (#1) will be replaced. This happens at all levels. The line supervisor who scared of the great operator. The manager who is scared of the supervisor, the dept head scared of the manager and so on up to your CEO level.
This fear can be very corrosive.
Myself, I have always felt, or did when I had a job, back in the day, that if there was nobody who could replace me, it would be that much more difficult for my boss to move me up if an opportunity offered.
So, in all seriousness, what can you aspire to? How can having a groomed replacement help in those aspirations? As CEO you are at the top of the ladder in one sense. But if all you do is stay there, eventually you will rot.
John Henry
http://www.changeover.com
December 28th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Thank you all for the great turn out and wide range of opinions.
Like I mentioned before, I am not lucky to be in that position but is great to see the perception and all the feedback received.
All the best as always
Edison Reis
http://www.QualityAssuranceManagement.com
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