CEO Being Me- From Effectiveness to Greatness

PRE- MID SEM ASSIGNMENT

LEADERSHIP & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

By
Sampath Hewage
7LB215
ICFAI EMBA OCT 2009
Date: 22/08/2009
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 5

Standing of the Firm In Relation to Its 5

Competitors with regard to Usage of E-business

Potential Drawbacks & Threats Faced by the Firm 6

Potential for Improvement in the Usage of E-business Technology

6

Factors of Success or Failure in Improving Usage of E-business Initiatives

7

References 9

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Introduction
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) position is the foremost managerial
position of any business organization. He/she is the person who drives the
company towards its vision through its mission. He/she may act sometimes as
a manager or sometimes as a leader.
The CEO position demands best out of any person, and requires an all-
round person who is visionary and strategic. He/she needs to set direction,
align people in the direction, empower them and lead by example (walk the
talk).
I am Sampath Hewage, an engineer and a project manager by profession. I
have been exposed to operations management, project management and
engineering maintenance areas during my six year long career. My talents
have been in the engineering, financial analysis, change management and
leadership areas while weaknesses are concerned with flexibility and
emotionality.
The organization I work for is CBL Foods International (Pvt) Ltd., which is in
the manufacture and distribution of a range of food products; biscuits,
chocolate, wafer, cake, jelly and cereal products. The company stated its
operations in 2004 and grown tremendously over the 5 years at 100% yoy. The
company was formed in the year 2002, and the founder CEO runs the
company to this date.
The annual turnover is around Rs. 4 billion and net profit has reached 400
million approximately. The product line has grown to almost 5 times that it was
at the inception. This has been due to the focus the company put on research
and development works.

The Current Management Style

The management style which is mostly practiced at CBL Foods is concluded
as consultative style when Likert’s 4 styles of management are considered.
Managers in this system do not have complete confidence and trust in their
subordinates. Though they seek advice from subordinates, they retain right to
take final decision. In this management style, managers (i) motivate
employees thorough rewards and occasionally punishment (ii) make broad
policy and general decisions but leave specific decisions to the lower levels
(iii) use both upward and downward communication flow, and (iv) act as
consultants in order to resolve various problems.
A production executive proposed to insulate the rice extruder oven in order
to save energy and increase production. The proposal was implemented and

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he was able to reduce electrical bill by 1/3 and double the production. He was
paid a direct cash amount of Rs. 100,000.00 and was promoted to an assistant
manager position for achieving the above results.
Decisions with regard to future expansions and formulation of quality
policy are taken by top level managers, but SOPs and WIs are drafted at
employee level.
The CEO and all managers are experts in their respective functional areas
who are able to deliver consultancy to resolve various issues. The melamine
issue and the it was handled by the management to minimize impact from due
to particular issue was a classic example of how the management used the
expertise in order to resolve issues.
The downward communication is done by meetings, memos etc and
upward communication promoted by Kaizen teams, suggestion boxes etc.
The CEO always focuses on important things, which drives organization
towards its strategic objectives. He does not on any occasion highlight minor
defects if the main deliverable is accomplished. The CEO emphasizes and
reemphasizes on planning and he desires a project to be completed at a
stretch rather than in bits and pieces.
The management has directly linked the performance of employees to
reward systems through performance measurement. But superiors have to be
highly respected by subordinates and challenging status-quo is also
encouraged.
The management has ensured only best people are selected for key
positions of the organization and this has enabled company remain in the no.
01 spot in the Sri Lankan food industry. The KPIs are clearly set for each
business process and KPIs are also from time to time changed in line with
process improvements. Improvement initiative like Projects, Kaizen programs
are greatly encouraged. Innovation, new product development and process
improvement have been given prominent strategic direction by CEO by
walking the talk.
The CEO desires managers and executives to present problem as well as
the solution. Only the problem without the solution is not welcome under any
reason. If the presented solution has shortcomings, the management will
always help to improve or find another alternative. The former CEO of GE Jack
Welch referred to the bad news without solution syndrome as “Walter
Cronkiting”.

Me, Being CEO

Running a company is all about selecting right people, inspiring them and
taking the best out of the people. The people should be rewarded suitably and
reward systems should be linked to performance and performance
measurement.
The sustainable growth should be the keyword. The maximization of profit
should be of prime importance but profit should not be the only thing.

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 The existing style of management has been very successful in reaching
goals of the organization. But current management has a bias towards certain
groups of people. This is because of the reason that these groups are
performance oriented and goal congruent. My aim will be to assure more
employee participation by setting direction, making employees more aware of
company’s mission and vision, aligning people with organizational goals and
empowering them and leading by example.
The CEO should be a leader more than a manager. But CEO has to play
both roles considering the situation. The manager acts in the system and
leader acts on the system. Leadership provides direction for change, deals
with aligning people, motivates people. Management deals with planning and
budgeting, organizing and staffing, and controls and solves problems.
Strategy formulation and implementation has to be prominent
management tasks. The five forces model on competition and value chain
analysis has to be used in the formulation of strategy. The implementation of
strategy depends heavily on selecting and putting right leaders to the right
position. We could have greatest strategies in the world. Without right leaders
developing and owning them, we would get good presentations and so-so
results.
Business organizations should be learning organizations. The CEOs in
learning organizations have to make sure that their people expand their
capacities and shape their future. In a learning organization, the leader is
designer of governing ideas, a teacher and a steward. Almost all the world
class organizations are learning organizations.
Getting every employee’s mind into the game is a huge part of what the
CEO job is all about. Taking everyone’s ideas and transferring them to others is
the secret. There’s nothing more important. The CEO has to be a sponge,
absorbing and questioning every good idea. The first step is being open to the
best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer. The second is transferring
that learning across the organization. Work-out will drive boundaryless
behavior and developed the ideas. The company management should
rigorously evaluate everyone on this value to reinforce its importance.
Searching for a better way and eagerly sharing new knowledge will become
the nature at CBL Foods.
Initiatives can be considered as change agents and they create
fundamental change in a company. They build on one another. So far,
initiatives as Kaizen and 5S are identified as initiatives started at CBL Foods. In
the future, I intend to have following initiatives; HACCP, JIT and E-business. On
the other hand, I have realized the importance of short-term tactical moves
and intend to implement following tactics; Using waste heat for heating
requirements, expand fresh water treatment plant to enable it to provide all
water requirements of the company.

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 The management needs to encourage employee entertainment activities
and also should insist all employees to participate in the events. These events
are a great way to synergize and energize an organization. The CEO’s job is to
make sure employees are having fun while they are being productive.

Values-Based Leadership
Set Direction
Align
Empower
Walk the Talk
Trust
Grow peoples trust
Change behaviour sets and value sets in the company
Achievement orientation is the most important.
World class company
Where successful people want to wok
Need to achieve
To be the best
Afraid of failure
Afraid of work

There's a common misconception that a person's skill is their talent. Skills, however, are not talents. Talents, on the
other hand, require skills. People can have skills and knowledge in areas where their talents do not lie. If they have a
job that requires their skills but not their talents, organizations will never tap into their passion or voice. They'll go
through the motions, but this will only make them appear to need external supervision and motivation.

If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won't require any supervision at all. They will
manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without.
Their motivation is internal, not external.

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When you study the lives of all great achievers--those who have had the greatest influence on others, those who
have made things happen--you will find a pattern. Through their persistent efforts and inner struggle, they have
greatly expanded their four native human intelligences or capacities. The highest manifestations of these four
intelligences are: for mental,vision; for the physical, discipline; for the emotional, passion; for the
spiritual, conscience. These manifestations also represent our highest means of expressing our voice.

Personal Characteristics of a Great CEO

By Robert Beauchemin

In a previous post I talked about what would make a Great CEO and concluded that a
Great CEOs, those in the top 2% of the Bell Curve, would have had a broad
experience. Well, there is more to it than just a broad experience. A Great CEO for
me has some personal characteristics uncommon on many people. I know that, as a
CEO, I was certainly conscious about improving these aspects of my personality. So
here are the top characteristics I would consider an exceptional combination:

Stamina – Not age. Ideally your looking for

someone in its 50’s with the energy of a 35
year-old go-doer. The job of a CEO is very
demanding, meeting challenges after
challenges, analyzing situations, making
decisions, aligning all staff towards common
goals, traveling, and keeping the family
happy in the process. The CEO regularly
clocks in 12 hour days, often working 6-7
days a week. This is not a job for the faint of
heart.

Educated – Not Necessarily Formally. MBA

maybe, well read for sure. The CEO needs to
stay current on the stock markets and on
industries, on leadership, on people
management, on marketing, on technology,
on performance management, on micro
economics and macro economics. The CEO
must have an insatiable thrust for learning.
The worst CEOs know it all from the get-go.

Visioning – Balancing Reality and Execution.

There is no future without a strong present, that’s a given. Yet, the CEO must have
very clear idea as to where he/she is taking the organization, not this quarter nor this
fiscal years, but in some distant future. He/she must be able to articulate a very
compelling image of what I call the Envisioned Future and to articulate the several
stratagems that will be deployed to ensure the vision will be met. The Envisioned
Future and the stratagems must be anchored into a reality, that itself generates a
sense of urgency, a need to change and a desire to move forward. The CEO must
also focus on the immediate imperatives on the journey to the Envisioned Future. It
is this ability of a CEO to go from 30,000 feet (seeing the future, the big picture and

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the strategic plan) to the street level (selling and executing) and back up to 30,000
feet that keeps the organization moving forward on their tracks.

Listening – Really Listening. Listening for what is said, and what is not. Listening to
the vibes. Listening to the atmosphere. It is by listening that the CEO can fully
appreciate the challenges experienced by the organization, the divisions, the
individuals, the competitors. Listening to what is not said is just has important. When
a competitor fails to announce any wins for several months, after announcing wins
every month before, speaks a lot. Employees that leave for other opportunities, say a
lot if you care to listen.

An eye for talent – First Who. As Jim Collins says “First Who then What”. The best
CEOs surround themselves with right people, with the right personalities, and put
them in the right seats. This way, the efforts are not spent on moving people
forward, but are expended moving the company forward.

Passion – Adhocracy Not Autocracy. Great leaders do not tell what to do; they
communicate their passion for the end result, for the ways to get there, for how to
behave. They are charismatic, but not in the flamboyant sense. It is their passion
that people fall in love with. Their passion is infectious and allows them to sell their
vision, to communicate pride of accomplishments or learning in failures. Passion is
paramount for creating a sense of urgency. It allows what would seemingly be ad-
hoc decision making to be I perfect alignment with expected outcome.

Discipline – Not Hopes. “We’re not sure”, “I hope”, “we expect”, “may be” are not
favoured terms; instead they would prefer “we plan to …”, “we are doing …”, “we’ll be
done by …” and “we’re done”. Hope is not a strategy and MBH (Management by
Hope) is not a discipline. A great CEO is looking to empower the organization while
establishing clear empowerment fences imbedded in plans, structures and processes.
A great CEO declares a culture of discipline and accountability.

Communications – Walking The Talk. Yes, walking the talk is communicating.

Certainly, the CEO has to communicate with great coherency, consistency, relevancy
and frequency. But the magic occurs by looking at how one behaves. Nothing is
worse than a CEO that says one thing and does otherwise.

Follow through – Controls are important. Great CEO’s are “control freaks”; but not in
the pejorative sense of the term. He/she does not want to be in control of
everything; he/she wants everyone in control. Because lose-ends are biologically
unacceptable, a great CEO will follow through on commitments made, to/by him/her.

Technical, Selling and Leadership – in one suit. Credibility obliges. The perfect CEO
grew through the technical ranks (regardless of the industry), developing a set of
muscles necessary to sense when the offerings are aiming right. The perfect CEO
gets that there is more to selling than picking up orders. He knows to be directly
involved in the revenue generation process. For Great CEOs, Selling Strategically
means going at it with method and discipline. The perfect CEO gets what leadership
is about. He/she has to know that, despite the years of experience, he/she is the
prime conductor and that others are needed on the bus to deliver the results.

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Controlled Emotions – Not Faked Emotions. Yes a great CEO is a person of passion,
but controlled passion. Sometimes parked for greater impact, other times wearing
emotions on his/her sleeves for greater impact, the Great CEO will control the display
of emotions to achieve the expected outcome. Do not confuse this trait with faking
emotions, because it is not; it is calibrating the outburst of genuine emotions for the
right reasons.

Adaptability – or the Board will take care of that. It is often said that a specific CEO
can only take the company from A to B, and that another one will be necessary to
take the organization from B to C. In an ideal world, that won’t be the case, because
the CEO can learn and adapt at a faster pace than will be needed.

Level 5 Leadership – Not Big Ego. CEOs that can build enduring greatness through a
paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will is what Jim Collins calls
Level 5 Executives. CEOs are rarely directly responsible for success, but are always
directly responsible for failures. Great CEOs use the word “we” with “successes” and
“I” with “failures”.

Ethics – Taken For Granted. Visibly always walking the high road, from the mundane
to the real serious stuff. Much like with children, your staff will imitate what you do,
not do what you say.

Of course, an experienced and successful CEO would have all of the personal
characteristics above, so let’s focus on the CEO’s experience. Right? Well not really.
The reasons CEOs have been successful are numerous and varied – hence the
hundreds of books on the subject. Knowing why they were successful is more
important, ensuring they were successful by exercising the traits above, and not by
some series of coincidences, would be reassuring to me.

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