The #1 Threat To An Executive's Success
When you interview 30 different CEOs, as I did in my new book, “Being A Leader With Courage: How To Succeed In Your C-Level Position In 18 Months Or Less,” you expect to hear a lot of differences in regard to what their challenges were and the path they took to succeed.
Here’s the funny thing, though – every one of the CEOs I interviewed had the same #1 challenge that they need to address and overcome if they had any hope of being successful in their mission. That’s right! In identifying this particular challenge and respecting it so that it didn’t derail their agenda, the CEOs avoided joining the 40-50% of leaders who are fired, quit or pushed out of their jobs within their first 18 months in the role.
So what was that #1 challenge all CEOs faced – and overcame?
Watch the short video below of a recent presentation I gave to reveal the answer (click on the image):
We often hear stories of where leaders enter the organization and boast, “I’m going to change the culture around here.” Well, a lot of those CEOs found out the hard way that it’s very hard to create change unilaterally without some type of strong internal buy-in first. You have to respect where the organization has been if you’re going to successfully chart the course for where it’s going. Ignoring that will come at your own peril. Understanding the culture means getting a keen sense of the shared beliefs, embedded practices, workflows for getting things done and more.
When you’re a CEO, it’s true that you may face big challenges in the way of new expectations. Or new products to launch in new markets. Or Under-Performers, Termites and Covert Change Killers.
But a new corporate culture to adapt to? That’s the one that was ALWAYS mentioned as being the most crucial to long-term success among those CEOs I interviewed for the book.
How prepared are you to join these 30 successful CEOs as a Leader With Courage?
The best place to know for certain is by taking our free Leadership Assessment of your skill set. In just 5-10 minutes, you can begin to get a clear picture of your categories of strength as well as those areas to work on improving together with Value Drivers. Whether you’re currently in a C-level position or aspiring to get there in the near future, let’s arm you with this solid baseline first. Then call 312.827.2643 so we can build upon it to get you prepared for success.
