Is your CEO too boring for words? Is he driving your organization or holding it back? Do you want a CEO that drives innovation or one that keeps your company from it?
Companies are in a constantly changing environment. From changing laws and regulations like Obama Care to new competitors or innovative new technologies that impact the sale of your product. Knowing that companies face constant change, why are some CEO's so afraid of change? Is your CEO too boring and not into change? What I define as a boring CEO is a person unwilling to change, unwilling to embrace the unfamiliar and unwilling to consider that new ways of doing something might be a better way.
I worked with a company that was being run by a CEO that did not like change at all. This aversion permeated into the organization and ultimately into the products as well. The company's image was very old school, almost archaic. The CEO took pride in this. The aversion for change went very deep. The company's website was extremely basic and void of any real information. Some of the sales brochures hadn't been changed decades still using pictures from the 50's! Yes, you're reading that right, the 50's!
This company was selling technological products and had a CEO averse to innovation. Needless to say, the CEO brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy. The owner of the company liked the man so he stayed on until his retirement. "Oh, he only has a few more years to go" was the owners comment. These last years were even more damaging to the company than the previous ones. Then a new CEO was hired. This CEO was very much into technology and it was amazing to see how quickly the company turned around.
It was as if there was pent up hunger for change in the whole organization and with a big sigh of relief did everyone embark on this new course. In a short period of time, new products came out and new technology started to percolate into the newly released products. This change was a life line desperately needed.
For some industries, a boring CEO might be just the ticket. Maybe in an accounting firm or a law firm. Any professional firm where innovation doesn't drive the company. However, any manufacturing firm has to have an innovative CEO. Manufacturing changes all the time as technologies advance. New manufacturing methods, new ways of machining, 3D printing, the list goes on. In manufacturing a boring CEO will be suicide.
What business are you in? Do you need a boring CEO that just keeps the status quo or will that ultimately kill your business? Are your competitors innovating faster than you are? Are their products more innovative? Do the customers like them better? If so, you have a boring CEO that avoids change. If you want your company and products to be innovative and advanced, having a CEO that drives the change and embraces new ideas and concepts is paramount. Look at your business and compare your products to those of the competitors. Know that your CEO is the one responsible for this. Is he the right man for your company?
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man" George Bernard Shaw.
If you want to make a difference, shouldn't you hire an unreasonable CEO rather than a boring one?
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