As a CEO, you’re asked to play many roles in the organization from visionary strategist to crisis manager to financial taskmaster. But are you also serving as an executive coach? Providing guidance and support to your senior leadership team is vital to strengthening your company’s internal talent pool and improving its prospects for long-term success. Depending on your leadership style, you may already be doing some informal counseling or making […]
By long tradition, Labor Day is a yearly national tribute to the contributions that our country’s workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of America. It marks the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of a new business year, as well as the start of school in some parts of the country. But most companies do almost nothing internally to celebrate the contributions of their workers—the key […]
If your company would like to operate more effectively, improve productivity, or realign the organization, consider adding a chief change officer (CCO) to the senior leadership team. Driving a major change initiative requires leadership from the top. So if the CEO needs to focus on other priorities, it’s important to designate an executive to lead and coordinate the effort. In some cases, the senior human resources executive can serve as […]
When a troubled manufacturing company needed an expert numbers person as CEO, the board of directors conducted a national search for an experienced chief financial officer with the ability to run the entire organization. When a U.S. sales company decided to open its first overseas affiliate, the CEO selected a sales manager from one of its largest domestic offices to run the new operation. And before a major children’s hospital […]
When companies plan to expand to international markets, one of the key considerations is the depth and strength of executive talent. Depending on the scope of the growth plan, additional managers may be needed to lead the new operations, and many organizations are creating new positions, such as Chief International Officer, to lead their teams. Careful evaluation of the leadership team’s skills, experiences and attitudes is crucial to making good […]
A stable senior leadership team is usually good for an organization. When everyone in the C-suite has worked together for a number of years, executives get to know each other’s thinking patterns, management styles and areas of expertise. When a major issue arises, the CEO generally knows whom to appoint to a committee or task force to find a solution. But there can be a downside to a longtime leadership […]
In the past decade, the power of innovation has been in the spotlight. Technology entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs built their careers (and their companies) by developing and launching innovative products at the right time in the market— at least most of the time. Today, start-ups emphasize their innovative solutions when searching for financial support or recruiting new executives. But not everyone is eager to join the innovation movement. In fact, […]
Successful executives have many skills and qualities that enable them to excel in their roles and create value for their companies. These might include strategic thinking, vision, creativity, leadership, communications skills, emotional intelligence and decision making—to name just a few. However, superior decision making is arguably the most important ingredient for success, especially in the C-suite. In fact, as a June 2010 Harvard Business Review article by Blenko, Mankins and […]
Managing Principal, ZS Associates Pearson Partners Director and Advisory Board Member What is your business background? My background has been in the business of technology. I started out as a supercomputer engineer hacking operating systems. Post business school, I spent time with McKinsey building its technology practice. More recently, I was fortunate to run global consulting, technology, marketing, and BPO business for two large, fast-growing, publicly listed IT services firms—Wipro […]
Director Emeritus, McKinsey & Company Pearson Partners Director and Advisory Board Member What is your business background? In my first career, I worked for Exxon in the coal, synthetic fuels and oil & gas industries. I then got an MBA from Wharton in finance and strategic planning, and joined McKinsey & Company. With McKinsey, I have worked with companies in virtually all industries all around the world. Much of […]
