via Criticaleye, The Network of Leaders

1. www.criticaleye.net 1
The scrutiny placed on modern business
leaders is greater than ever before.
The sheer speed at which decisions must
be made and strategies enacted across an
organisation, coupled with employees,
customers and shareholders expecting ever
more communication, means today’s CEOs
must hone the skills needed to thrive in such a
fast-paced business environment.
Chris Merry, CEO of professional services firm
RSM Tenon, says: “People expect a lot compared
to what they did ten years ago, in terms of what
they get from the top of the business; what they
are told, how they are told it and how frequently
they are communicated with. It’s up to modern
CEOs to rise to the challenge.”
If there’s one skill that has gained prominence
it is the ability to communicate with aplomb,
and to do so particularly in the harsh glare of
the spotlight: both internal and external.
Ursula Morgenstern, a first-time CEO at IT
provider Atos UK, comments: “The sheer
public attention takes some getting used
to. I walk in a room and everybody watches
whether I smile, where I sit, to whom I talk. I
had been a senior person at Atos for the last
five years but the attention that is paid to the
CEO and what I project is incredible, and it’s
meant that I’ve had to learn to balance my
natural informality that appeals to staff with
the public persona that’s required of a CEO.”
Regardless of ‘persona’, keeping your head and
remaining clear and firm as to your intentions
is crucial. Andy Blundell, Chief Executive of
outsourced customer marketing supplier
Communisis, says: “It is important to be able
to clearly articulate the company’s identity and
growth strategy to any audience, very quickly…
the CEO must set the tone in terms of work
ethic and spreading the fundamental belief
that the company will succeed.”
The need to connect via different media
with teams that are dispersed across
different countries presents additional
challenges in terms of communication
and engagement. “The emergence of
multichannel communications has made
the flow of information more immediate and
unstructured,” says Mark Powles, CEO of
Business Stream, a subsidiary of Scottish Water.
“This puts a greater personal responsibility
on the CEO to understand and respond to
threats and opportunities when engaging with
customers, stakeholders and staff.”
Naturally, all stakeholders will want to see the
leader’s vision for the business and will hold
him/her accountable for the decisions taken. In
many cases they will also want to feel part of that
vision. Therefore, while CEOs must still lead and
make it clear where the buck stops it is also vital
that they are seen to be inclusive and transparent
in their leadership style and that, where
appropriate, they invite others to participate in
how the business is shaped and grown.
David Turner, CEO of outsourced contact
centre company HEROtsc, comments: “Even
if people don’t necessarily agree with the
decisions you’ve made, as long as it’s done
solidly and they can see the argument has
been created, by and large you’ll get more
people following you than not. For instance, I
Evolution
of the CEO
To survive in today’s business climate, CEOs must be able to articulate their decisions and be prepared to
nurture others so they too feel comfortable in sharing the burden of leadership. Criticaleye reports

2. www.criticaleye.net 2
Featuring Commentary From:
Andy Blundell
Chief Executive
Communisis
Chris Merry
CEO
RSM Tenon
Ursula Morgenstern
CEO
Atos UK
Kevin Murray
Chairman
Good Relations Group
Kai Peters
CEO
Ashridge Business School
Mark Powles
CEO
Business Stream
Jo Sellwood-Taylor
Founding Director
Mullwood Partnership
David Turner
CEO
HEROtsc
Contact the contributors through www.criticaleye.net
do a monthly blog about the business because
it’s clear to me that people want to see what
your opinions are, whether you have one, what
you are trying to do with the business and
where it’s going.”
CREATE A CULTURE OF LEADERS
Put simply, today’s CEOs cannot do everything
themselves. More than ever, however, the
organisations they lead must have a culture
that allows for the speed and agility required
to remain competitive. To be truly agile, CEOs
must empower others.
“There’s a huge need for leaders to be able to
create leaders throughout the organisation,”
says Kevin Murray, Chairman of PR consultants
Good Relations Group. “Those leaders have to
be highly empowered to create that agility you
need in companies. If something appears on
a Twitter feed, within seconds you can have a
global disaster on your hands. But, likewise, if
you don’t respond to a customer’s complaint
on a service delivery query appropriately and
quickly, it could blow up to become a major
issue for you overnight. That’s why leaders are
now asking: how do I build an organisation that
can respond at speed but also in the right way?”
Leaders must be confident enough to give
others the power to take appropriate risks
and encourage them to take responsibility.
This boils down to trust. And trust comes from
authenticity.
Jo Sellwood-Taylor, Founding Director
at executive recruitment firm Mullwood
Partnership, has conducted interviews with
more than 100 leaders from a wide range of
sectors and countries. “Our research found
that what makes the difference between a good
CEO and a stellar one is people leadership,”
she says. “The world is more complex and to
capitalise on it you need to create a culture of
innovation among your managers and your
workforce.
“Because the CEO role is very externally
focused, the most important behavioural
aspect is authenticity, being genuine and being
very self-aware so that not only how you come
across is suitable but that you also know what
people you need around you to be effective.”
Chris adds: “People skills are the essence of
what a CEO does. Interacting with people,
trying to influence people and remove
barriers. Looking forward over a longer time
horizon than the day-to-day so you can see
what the strategic path is, making sure you’ve
got the right people around you to get that
in place and managing and inspiring those
people to deliver the strategy.”
Empathy is increasingly a prerequisite for
successful leadership. Effective CEOs must
have an innate understanding of what makes
those around them tick, giving them the
perspective needed to lead and influence
teams and individuals and therefore judge
situations with speed and accuracy.
Kai Peters, CEO of Ashridge Business School,
says: “When working with business leaders
we try to consider the strategic landscape
and all of the normal business skills, but also
the drivers and psychology of the individual,
through 360-degree coaching and so on,
and also the behaviour of others. In effect,
two thirds of the work we do on leadership
development is about psychology.”
BUILD STRENGTH IN DEPTH
Trust and empathy are all well and good, but
the talent needs to be there and it needs to be
ready for responsibility. Aspiring talent must
be nurtured to handle the pressure of the top
role so that, when their turn comes, they are
already comfortable with the spotlight and
know what to do when it hits them.
Andy comments: “In a Plc environment it is
traditionally only the CEO and FD who are
routinely exposed to banks, advisors and
investors. We’ve recently taken steps to change
this by exposing other senior managers to,
for example, an ‘investor day’. This is good for
their personal development and investors like it
because they see strength in depth – it sends a
confident message about the organisation.”
Ultimately, certain skills required to lead an
organisation in the 21st century are evergreen.
But, while a CEO’s role will always be about
setting a framework for direction and the
goals to achieve it, those most effective in the
role will be the ones that provide a context that
allows for collaboration.
“We’re living in a radically transparent world
where leadership is being challenged from every
direction,” says Kevin. “A CEO’s tenure has been
shortening all the time and even the smallest
mistake results in resignations and people
baying for heads to roll. It’s a harder job than
ever and leaders must be much more inclusive in
their leadership style if they are to succeed.”
© Criticaleye 2013
The sheer public attention takes
some getting used to