The Six Disciplines blog has moved!

You will be automatically redirected to our new home. If that does not occur, please visit:

Thursday, September 10, 2009

CEO Profiling – Part II: The CEO Effectiveness Exam

The following Part II article was written by Eric Kurjan, President of Six Disciplines Northwest Ohio. Six Disciplines brings “big company” process improvement to organizations looking to break beyond the status quo. For more information visit www.SixDisciplines.com/Toledo, or call 419-348-1897.


In my last article, "CEO Profiling - The Four Kinds of CEOs", I described the four different kinds of CEOs and their ability or inability to run, build or grow their business ventures.

In this article, the focus is on your own organization and your self-evaluation. The CEO Effectiveness Exam is simple and quick, yet illuminating. Although the tendency is to be lenient, I ask that you be honest with yourself and score each question with a truthful answer. Approach it from the perspective of what you are today, not what you want to be. The outcome of this self-evaluation will not do anything by itself. However, with an action plan it may change your perspective, habits, performance and ultimately your long-term results.

Let me recap the four CEO types from the previous article.

CEO #1 – The True Leader – they are solid leaders and run top notch organizations. They set clear goals, measure results, hold people accountable and communicate consistently to the organization. They will have the highest scores on CEO Effectiveness Exam.

CEO# 2 – The Know-it-All – they are too smart for their own good. They are the bully or they are the shrinking violet. They often misunderstand the key elements of leading an organization although the financial results can sometimes be surprisingly good but at a huge cost to the employees, clients and vendors. They will have the lowest scores on the CEO Effectiveness Exam.

CEO# 3- The Heart Attack – they are running scared. Something undesirable has happened to their business and now they are frantically trying to find a way to save the enterprise. A major client has left, product quality has slipped, or maybe sales fell well short of projections, or profits have melted away. Could those people have been right about having a plan and executing on that plan? They will have a low overall CEO Effectiveness Exam score but may be “good” in a few category areas.

CEO #4 – The Humble Leader – they are hard workers. They have built a very good organization and are not satisfied with the status quo. They want more for their organization and are doing something about it. They will score well above “good” in most every category.

Your CEO Effectiveness score is based on the six category areas: Leadership/Culture, Strategy, Customer Focus, Measurement, People and Process. Each one is of equal importance and contributes to the whole. The scores in each section will indicate strengths or shortcomings in an area; however each area must be developed, managed and fully implemented for a CEO to build a truly successful organization.

So now that you “know” what you are, what do you do about it? That is the biggest question you will need to answer. As Gary Harpst, founder of Six Disciplines, says: “the problem for most of us isn’t knowing what to do; it’s doing it”.

Unless you have earned the coveted “CEO#1” score, seek professional help, seriously. Whether it is from Six Disciplines or another qualified business advisor, look for professional assistance in developing a plan to raise your scores and produce better results.

Click here to download the CEO Effectiveness Exam.

No comments: