If I become a CEO one day !

Subject - Leadership and change management

Enroll No - 7LB 250

Name – Ramani Weerasinghe

Assignment - Mid semester - IV

Many times I have wondered what it will take, for me to become a CEO of a mid size to
a large corporation. Why? !!!!! Well one reason is quite obvious; an average CEO
makes more money… how much? !!!!!! On an average 500 times more than the
lowest paid worker in an organization. So if the average salary of a lowest paid
worker in an organization is $20,000/-, average salary of a CEO would be around….. …
I will leave the math to you, you can do the math. The number is in millions.

CEO is an abbreviation for Chief Executive Officer; this officer is the highest-ranking
officer in an organization. He reports to the board of directors, which is presided by the
Chairman. In many companies the role of Chairman and CEO is the same, but most of
the large corporations; CEO and Chairman are two different persons. The board reports
to the investors. So the bottom line is, we the investors are the Gods for the company,
just to make you feel better.

Now that we know what is the role of a CEO, let me try to answer the above-mentioned
questions, one question at a time. I will start with the first one, are CEO really that
deserving?

And the answer to that is a definite, YES, in bold. If they were not that deserving than
the board and the investors would not be paying that much to a CEO, they are not
running a charity, they are in business and they wont pay one dollar to someone if they
think they cannot make two dollars out of it.

The shift in the CEO salary in last 3 decades has been on an upswing, and one of the
reason for that is, as businesses scale their heights, they are becoming more complex,
day by day, with more complexities involved, the decision making abilities have to be
the best in the industry or business wont survive for long,

we all know what happened recently to big companies like Enron. One wrong decision
can bring down the company to its knees. The answer to this question is a controversial
answer since the board decide the pay of a CEO and usually in the most of the boards,
the members of the board are CEO's of other business partners, there is a conflict of
interest involved, but I believe that their pay is 100% justified.
The next question was how would it change in future?

In plain words it will increase, not at the rate it did from 1990 to now, but my prediction is
that it will at least double in the next decade or so. The businesses now are going global
at a faster pace than they did 10 years back; tighter integration of technology and
business, in fact dependency of businesses on technology is making businesses more

complex and challenging. The competing forces are growing at a faster rate, especially
with the Internet monster spreading its fangs around all the businesses, competing
choices to a customer is just a click away, its getting ever more difficult to get and retain
a customer,

since the switching cost to customer is just a click in most of the instances. In nutshell
more complex the business grows, more challenging it will be for the CEO's to make
any decisions and manage it, and with more challenges, the salaries and other
opportunities will only grow.

Now, let us try to answer the last two questions, How can I become a CEO?

Now let me modify this question slightly, how can I become a CEO and be an effective
CEO? Being an effective CEO is more important, since becoming a CEO will cost you
around $300/-, basically register a company in your name and be a CEO, whether you
do something or not you will be CEO for sometime. Just kidding. Here we are not talking
about a just registered company, we are talking about mid-size to a large corporation.
Reading this article was your first step, and believe me, first step is the most difficult
step, usually. I always believed in the fact that if I want to aspire for something than start
behaving like that and I must develop following qualities

1. Emotional competence-

this quality is very important. Technical competency or the ability to do what you
do the best is one thing, but that takes you only to a particular level, and beyond
that technical aptitude does not help much.

2. Listen –

Always listen and speak less, speak only when required.

3. Rule 30-15 –

Come in early 30 minutes before your boss and leave after 15 minutes after your
boss has left.

4. Never ever write a memo with high emotions.

5. Make your boss look good, always.

6. Always be a friend to the subordinates of your peer.

7. Be honest and hard working.

10. Think daily as to how you can reach My goal of becoming a CEO.

Set career goals for myself and meet or exceed each goal. As a chief executive
officer, I will be responsible for setting company goals and implementing them. I
must clear understanding of goal setting and a track record for success,
11 Build a portfolio of all work and accomplishments. Each time I put
together a presentation or publish an article, save a copy in a presentation
portfolio. Use this when meeting with management and discussing increases in
responsibility and job title

12 .Job Responsibilities - When I meet with each department heads to

develop the overall goals and strategy of the firm. In a typical company, a CEO
meets with each of his department heads to develop the overall goals and
strategy of the firm. The intent is to increase the company's profitability. reports
that progress to the board of directors. He maintains a high public visibility,

13. I should possess excellent communication skills.

A successful CEO must possess exceptional written and verbal communication

skills, and serves as the internal and external mouthpiece of his organization.
must also have excellent interpersonal skills. Planning and execution are both
areas in which he should be strong. I must also be a strong leader and good
manager.

14.Educational Requirements- Formal education is required.

CEO should posses a four-year degree within finance, business or a similar field
of study. Additionally, should have a graduate degree within business
management, business administration or a related field. Most employers typically
prefer candidates to have 15 or more years of experience within the industry.

15.Dress for work as though you already have the position of chief executive
officer. Keep a neat and professional appearance at all times. This allows the
company to envision you in an executive position.

16.Make myself available for work after hours, including weekends. Chief
executive officers typically work up to 80 hours a week. Be willing to drop your
personal plans and travel often as well.

17 . Be secure in myrself.

18. Get control of my attitudes and stay in control.

 19. . Be honest and ethical.

20.. Think before talking

After I became a CEO, !!!!!!

I was struck by how perfunctory the board was in its feedback on my performance. The
chair of the compensation committee would pop by my office for just 10 minutes after
the year-end closed session of independent directors. He’d inform me that the board
was happy that the company had made its numbers, thank me for my leadership, tell
me what compensation it had approved, and express his regret that he couldn’t stay to
talk—but he had a plane to catch. He would then hand me an envelope containing the
details of my comp package and leave. He wouldn’t have even sat down.

Those reviews were very different from how I evaluated my team. I collected input from
many sources and assessed performance on multiple dimensions. I worked with my
direct reports to identify flaws in their management styles, and I tried to help them adjust
before problems arose or their careers got stalled. I had received similar guidance on
my way up to the C-suite, but that all disappeared suddenly when I became CEO.

My total worth was based on just three or four financial measures, and the independent
directors’ assessment of me was driven almost entirely by their need to justify their
compensation decisions.

Jjust think about how we replace CEOs: It takes six to nine months from when a board
recognizes that something’s wrong for it to reach consensus and muster the courage to
act. It then takes three to six months to find a new CEO and get her onsite, plus another
year for that CEO to figure out what the business is, what she wants to do, and how to
get started. At the minimum, that’s almost two years of costly stasis.

I came up with a process to improve how I was evaluated. The independent directors
based their assessments of me on direct observation of the company and input given to
them by executives at multiple levels of management.
As a result, they could detect problems that I might not have noticed. My performance
benefited materially, and I learned a lot about leadership. To put our method into
context, let’s first look at how CEOs themselves assess their direct reports.

By attending staff meetings and participating in various corporate activities, CEOs

observe how a manager interacts with peers and subordinates. They cross-check those
observations with what they hear from others in the organization. They may find out, for
example, that the manager hoards resources or didn’t buy into finance’s latest supply
chain initiative. For confirmation, they then speak to function heads and ask pointed
questions about the executive’s performance.

When I was CEO, I’d follow up on what I’d heard by asking the head of HR outright what
he thought about talent management in the manager’s unit: Was he hiring and
developing good people? Was he sharing them with other units? I’d go to the CFO and
ask her whether the unit was hitting its numbers because of performance or aggressive
bookkeeping.

I even went one step further and asked my assistant what she’d heard through the
grapevine. Did the other assistants think a manager was riding his people too hard?
Was he becoming stressed and short-tempered? In taking steps like these, CEOs
ensure that when the time comes for annual reviews and performance counseling, they
will have a multifaceted view of a manager, well beyond the numbers.

It’s clear that independent directors don’t have the same opportunities to garner this
kind of knowledge about CEOs. They generally meet them only in very structured
settings—at board meetings and dinners—

where CEOs tend to be on their best behavior. And often the sole chance directors have
to speak with executives below a

CEO is at a dinner the night before the meeting—

in the CEO’s presence. As a member of several boards,

 I often meet executives at such dinners,!! but when I ask them probing
questions, such as whether they are getting the support they need for a key
growth initiative,
I see their eyes flick toward the CEO across the room. Is she listening in?