8 CEO Mentality That Inspires Growth

Just as wearing a black tunic and a moody face doesn't make one a monk, so does bearing the 'CEO' title doesn't make you a CEO in the real sense of it. True CEOs' unlike others, have some extras in their kitty that make them exceptional in terms of result. True CEOs whether in leadership position or not, have certain perspectives to real issues that make them more able to achieve  exceptional business  growth and meet their strategic objectives when compared to others. This set of perspectives is what is being referred to as ' CEO mentality'.

The good news about this mentality is that they can be learned.  Here are a few of the CEO mentality drawn from global star leaders that powered their business to outstanding heights.

1) Integrator Mentality

Great support precedes great performance. True CEOs are natural integrators, who are aware that success is like a security lock that takes only the right combination of numbers to open. They therefore are perpetually keen on searching out and reaching the right measure of people, resources and ideas that have the potential to combine to bring the desired result. Instead of using the rod as the only strategy for enhancing organizational effectiveness, they place priority on promoting the attainment of set goals through matching expectation and empowerment. For example, when others hire a hand and expect that the employee proves his worth or be shown the way out, a true CEO would go on to ascertain and provide the right mix of policies, infrastructure, training, and motivation that would increase the employee's chances of putting up a superlative performance on his deliverables. He concedes that your cake is as good as your mix. The needed empowerment could be psychological.  

2) The Collaboration Mentality

"We" is better than " I". Real CEOs admit the stark truth that nobody has it all, and being driven by a strong desire to succeed especially innovatively, they find it imperative to bring in as many people with relevant ideas as possible. CEOs seek collaboration from experts and other people who've got guts or have worked down their line and have significant success or experience to show. Their team-oriented approach to business make CEOs favor a management style I call 'management by inclusion'. They believe that anyone who's got something meaningful to contribute towards the achievement of the objective is part of the larger team and must be taken in. They see every view as important even though they may not toe every line. This makes them more disposed to working towards the bringing down of perceived operational walls that may put them beyond the easy reach of stakeholders. Steve Job of Apple computers says "....that is how I see business: Great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people."

3)  The Merit Mentality

Is this the best for business? CEOs are keen on dealing with people and issues based on their verifiable merit. They are aware that excellence is what gets sacrificed each time a leader chooses sentiments over merit.

 CEOs sometimes deliberately introduce healthy competition, intense debate of topical issues as a means of reaching and sustaining merit. They want to be doubly sure that every choice made is the best one for business. Great business leaders seem to have a reputation for giving more "why" as opposed to "yes" as a response to proposals brought to them. This is because the motivation needed to achieve any dream is embedded in the merit thereof.

4) The Futuristic Mentality

To get ahead, you got to see ahead. CEOs have a 'beyond now' approach to issues. They think long term. They favor the decisions that put them in control of the future. Winning in business is all about being ahead and in control. True CEOs use the facts of the past and the present to project the inevitable future. They seek to determine the new realities of tomorrow and how they will impact their brand while developing the appropriate strategic response. Such a futurist perspective empowers them to develop and pursue a more robust and defining goal capable of getting them ahead of the competition. They are never satisfied with the status quo and ever challenging the boundaries in search of superior discoveries and solutions that would shape the future. Thus, making them natural pioneers of innovation and breakthrough products. While others settle in the ' now' CEOs quickly get into the ' next' where now is already obsolete. Steve Job mentioned above insists: I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should do something else wonderful, not dwell on it too long. Just figure out what's next"   Real CEOs are industry prophets.

 

 

5) The ' Think Big' Mentality

You are as big as your imagination. Real CEOs are big dreamers. They have big ideas for small problems. They think global, never local. It's in them to make big plans even though they may eventually start out small

Real CEOs seem to postulate that 'Small' connects 'Small' and 'Big' connects 'Big'. This means that they expect that a small plan brings small results while a big plan produces a big result when executed with excellence. The think-big mentality of CEOs is strongly manifested in their belief and insistence on quality at the expense of quantity, knowing that quality ultimately begets quantity.

The truth however is, a great brand doing small things will end up small. Big ideas bring big changes and big changes when capitalized upon bring big leaps.

6) The 'Big Picture' Mentality

The bigger your perspective become, the smarter your decisions get

True CEOs see and think from the broader side of life.  Apart from seeing small things from a big perspective they also reserve judgment until they are able to have a bird's eye view of the issue. This means getting a wholesome view of it. It's about casting aside all personal prejudices and popular sentiments to capture every angle to the story, until they are able to separate what is important from what is not and using that as a leverage to reach a well-rounded opinion or decision. This ability helps to keep them focused on the real in the face of the ever-multiplying distractions. Quoting Steve Abert Costil'' Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me....going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful....that is what matters to me". This is one reason why the most successful CEOs have a "beyond money attitude to business" unlike many others. They are able to put the vision ahead of the distraction of financial success.

7) The 'Changer' Mentality

You can't change a world you fit into…It is interesting to know that the most successful CEOs are the ones who dare to create the change that go on to shape our world while on the flip side are the lots of promising brands that have gone under on account of reluctance, in affinity or non apt response to change on the part of the leadership. The real CEOs are change oriented.

Truth is that the people who find nothing wrong with the system are not likely to be the ones who will change it for the better. It takes only misfits to do so. True CEOs are status quo challengers. They easily find non apparent flaws associated with the way things are currently done and most often forge ahead to seek a superior approach. Competent CEOs place priority on having and retaining only the people who have shown to think differently. People who see a need for improvement, people who challenge the status quo.

 

8) The Detail Mentality

Success is in the detail. There is more than meets the eye they say, true CEOs would rather not haste into critical decisions even when the odds are in favor. They always want to find out the undeclared interest, the non-obvious but important fact. This makes them ask "the tough questions" as a strategic tool for unearthing the critical but non apparent.  There is no over flogging it: Great result is founded on great decision. To reach an excellent decision requires more than a surface consideration of issues so true, CEOs would keep broadening the scope of the discuss until every truth is established and assumptions verified. This paves way for the emergence of facts on which conclusions and decisions would be premised is also made possible. This art of skillfully questioning, brooding and widening the conversation until the people gets through the clutter to find the underlying facts or flaws is what sets true CEOs ahead of the pack. On Steve, Jay Elliot writes "He dropped in way too frequently to ask those painful and sometimes embarrassingly detailed questions. Yes, at times the engineers in particular felt a little like they were in kindergarten....He cared deeply about every aspect of making the Mac a great product in everyway down to the smallest detail". Customers are smart, and want products and services that are well thought through.

Making conscious,consistent  and sufficient  effort to adopt the above mentioned CEO mentality, will  put your business on the part of growth