Pressed by everyday duties, leaders may lose sight of what's important and, what's even more dangerous, when the loss becomes visible it may be very hard to get back on the right track.
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One of the key abilities of every CEO is the ability to see a bigger picture, events and conditions that define the market and their position in it. The first two signs that CEO, let's put it that way, is on the way down the hierarchy is paying too much attention to details and perfectionism.
Under the pressure, a leader may slip into controlling everyday work, thinking that micromanagement will help the company. That may happen over time, without thinking. This is dangerous because that's not manager's field of duties: A leader must not pay attention to all the small details, it's not in the work description, and there are other people for that.
Second, as some would say, perfection is overrated. The intent of perfectionism may sound good as an idea, but we all know there's no such thing as a perfect product. All products are developed and improved over their life time, and if a leader has just perfection in mind, well, noting will happen. While she waits for that perfect product, time is passing by and the company stays in place while the competition is moving.
Those two signs we can describe as "doing, not leading," and on the leader is to lead, not to do things that other people are entitled to do.
Another sign of bad behavior change is a lack of focus. If a leader is insecure about the company's strategy, that may be a sign the she is unclear about her own purpose in the company. That in turn means that the company effectively has no leader.
Then, it's a nature of all leaders to take risk. Without some risk there's no success. But, if the company is successful for a long time, the leader may forget that and then she is trying to satisfy the board and investors by not taking risk and leaving the company to follow an established path. This is good for a next quarter report but not in the long run.
The final sign that something is wrong with the leader is poor self management. That comes from too much work and loss of passion for the work. That can be noticed as poor time management, loss of everyday care for herself, and in the end visible signs of fatigue.
All those signs don't happen just like that, it takes time for them to develop. How to prevent that?
A leader, or the board, should react to the first sign of coming to work without joy. Of course, every one of us is entitled to a bad day now and then, but if that is visible to be happening in a row, it is time for a little chat with the CEO.
A vacation is a simple, yet effective solution for that. It will allow the CEO to rest and think about her purpose in the company. ■