Every manager adopts a different management approach.
Some are very close to the office, always aware of what’s happening, not letting a spark of information to slip away. I refer to them as the CEO Online kind of executives.
What Kind of a CEO Will You Be?
Others are more patient, trying to build a kind of relationship with the company, so the ongoing management is running by, they (the CEOs) interrupt only when there’s a problem, and most of the time spending planning strategically. I refer to those as the CEO Offline.
It’s hard to state a decisive opinion, because everyone and every profession have a different required mechanism.
But it raises the importance of the CEO in the life of the company, and the enormous difference that it makes on the reciprocal relations with the management team in any aspect.
Here some of the differences:
- CEO Online
- Always available, always aware of what’s happening.
- Knows the bits and bytes of its work (processes, products, and crew).
- Have a direct snapshot of the company’s overview anytime.
- Can go into details in no time.
But, in most cases, he is
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- Having hard time thinking out of the box.
- Deep in the ongoing management.
- Sometimes involve where he shouldn’t
(lately I have witnessed an awkward situation, in a large organization, where the CEO had a major argument with the product manager, over the way the projects database should be built. Of course the CEO has no more knowledge about the subject.)
- Offline CEO
- Delineates the road, thinking strategically.
- Work on a trust basis.
- Not falling to the ongoing management. Let the inertia force do its best.
- Involved only when needed, basically when an important decision must be taken, or when there are problems.
His disadvantages are
- Usually less connected to the employees and their needs.
- It is easier to trick him.
Or, he can’t control if gets all the information he needs.
Again, Of course you cannot judge that approach or the other. In my opinion it’s more like build to last vs. build to change.
Many executives adopt their model mostly on what they are got used to, or on what they were ‘educated on’. Their character is what leads them to one of the approaches.
I don’t believe that everyone must always to straighten up with the CEO – Only because he is the boss!
The hottest trend today is integrating different fields. More and more ideas come from new areas we’re only lately discovered. These approach forces adopting the right type of management model, and more important, the relevant approach for each project.
I prefer the CEO Offline model. In most cases they are create a more partnership like atmosphere. The CEO determines the WHAT, the employees (from department managers to the simple employee) decide the HOW. They make a difference between the important and the urgent, while the future is always in front of them (The company’s future, their own future and their staff future – as partners).
Nonetheless, CEO Online are a valuable asset while dealing in companies, where there is a high maintenance and a lot of ongoing management is the main part of the company’s product.
So, what is your preference? How will you manage your company inside the CEO game?
The CEO Game.
