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The Duality of the CEO Role

By Daniel Guzman Salinas - Conecta Soluciones Tecnológicas, S.C
CEO and Co-Founder

STORY INLINE POST

By Daniel Guzman Salinas | Co-Founder and CEO - Mon, 10/17/2022 - 09:00

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For most people, the life of a CEO is an interesting and in some way an aspirational concept. There is no doubt about the importance of the  good management job can do within organizations and the impact they can achieve when they are properly driven by the  correct leadership.

In general, we prefer to see only the sexy side of all things without considering what is behind and what is left behind along the way as well as the effort, perseverance and sacrifice that are a constant on the road to success. The case of the CEOs is no exception and their road is not only a journey against the current, it is also an extremely lonely path: no matter how many people are around them, the crucial decisions will always fall on them. Just look at an organizational chart; the CEO lives alone in their box, with all those responsibilities and decisions to make.

Perhaps the first thing we think when hearing or reading something like this is that this person decided to pursue the role of CEO, or maybe we think that it is the position that has the most advantages and privileges within an organization. We might even  believe that some CEOs abuse their position of power. All of which can distort our perception of the role from its undeniable reality. Although it is true that when a person decides to accept the role of CEO, they decide to take on that responsibility and even if it is true that on one hand it entails many advantages and benefits, on a day-to-day basis that does not make the task any easier.

The CEO carries much more on his shoulders than we can imagine. It is not only about developing and executing sustainable business strategies, building and institutionalizing an organizational culture that distinguishes the company within its industry, maintaining the financial health of the company, including shareholders and investors, and convincing all the stakeholders of the final purpose of the organization. For this reason, we can sometimes forget the fact that the CEO is also a human being and perhaps one of the last questions that we might ask is among the most relevant: Who cares about the CEO? Sometimes we forget to consider him as a human being who can feel, limiting ourselves to pointing them out associating them directly with the success or failure of the entire organization and reminding them that it is their duty to respond to all external and internal demands  —  from government, society, employees. With each demand, the expectation is that more value will  be generated for  the organization that they lead.

However, we rarely ask ourselves who is in charge of developing a CEO, who cares that they have the necessary tools and skills to perform their role optimally and efficiently. If we start from the fact that the associates in many organizations are assigned an emotional salary, in addition to his salary and benefits, maybe we should ask ourselves where that exchange is when we speak about the CEO. It is even rarer to find a company that includes a management, development and succession plan for this crucial position within its HR strategy.

The fact is that CEOs have less and less time to achieve the enormous challenges they face. A recent study by the consulting firm Korn Ferry indicates that the average life cycle of a CEO decreased from eight years in 2016 to 6.5 years in 2019 and the trend continues downward. Another interesting fact from this study is that the CEOs of the largest companies that participated in this study are succeeded by people who have never before had this responsibility in their professional careers, which is a much greater challenge not only for the new CEO, but also for the entire organization.

We live in a time of change, determined by the immediacy of everything that we see and know, in a world that works in multiple dimensions simultaneously with the permanent threat that everything is destined to change at any moment. But it is also a time of change that we have never seen before, where all of us who have held the title of CEO have the opportunity to change the conditions that have isolated this position throughout time.

Those of us who have accepted this challenge know firsthand the fear caused by uncertainty, the frustration that can be sometimes experienced and the repetitive effort to improve and evolve the organization, its operation and the people who collaborate in it, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. The fact is there is nothing that is more rewarding and satisfying that we can experience in our professional life.

Almost 12 years ago, I began this life as an entrepreneur and CEO and along this journey, I learned about this loneliness, especially in the moments of crisis and uncertainty. It is in these moments that we learn to show to all others our strength, whether we feel it or not, to maintain the spirit and focus of the entire team. But I also learned that the sum of all the people who are part of our team is much greater than the sum of our individual impact and that allows us to achieve a much greater impact in a sustainable way. For this reason, in the last year, I have been dedicated to building a C-lLevel team with which  to share not only our achievements and happiness but also to look  to them for advice and encouraging words in difficult moments.

I want to close with a reflection. If you are a CEO, I invite you to keep your faith in your purpose of transformation and trust in your team. That will make the best things possible and together, you can build a better company and a better future. And if you are a team member, I also invite you to think about all the responsibilities that come with being  a CEO. Take their place for just a single moment and try to understand the implications of making decisions that affect the life and wellness of dozens, hundreds or maybe thousands of families. And finally, I invite all to think about companies as a whole: when it is in its optimal state of balance, it can be led together to the maximum potential of society and to build a better future.

Photo by:   Daniel Guzman

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