2018 is coming. Reviewing our records, I noticed another well-known Fortune 500 companies CEO opened “Take Your Leadership to Level 5 to Achieve a Greater 2017!!” 15 times a few days before he retired. This has become a phenomenon in the past a fewer years– whenever a well-known Fortune 500 companies CEO suddenly reads our newsletters a lot, it usually means the CEO is in “hot water,” and soon would “retire” and disappear. In 2014, Fortune 1000 Company CEO Replacement, Man: Woman = 252:1.
Most Fortune 500 companies CEOs desire to go from Good to Great. While it is not easy to get ahead, it can be harder to stay ahead. When a person achieves more, his or her self- monitoring system often turns loose instead of becoming stronger. The “yes” men and applauds around them usually speed up the decline: some stop updating self and miss new opportunities. Some make unwise investments and lose. Some are trapped in their own “Proxies” and lays of structure and lose velocity. Some become arrogant and abusive towards others and are forced out of office… These happen not only to Fortune 500 companies CEOs, but many others, including a well-known leader in innovation.
Some of these Fortune 500 companies CEOs have made their companies the leader in their industry while others have kept their company the leader. Some have brought their companies to Fortune 500. Some of the Fortune 500 companies CEOs have brought their businesses back to Fortune 10. They could have enjoyed their work more had they refreshed their self-monitoring system on time and stayed updated. They could have continued to make more differences had they built sufficient resilience ahead of time and update others parts (unlike other skills, it is often hard to build resilience during the storm as setbacks and failures can shut down human mind and body).
While some CEOs stop improving themselves, the world never stop changing, and some changes come at an experiential rate. How the 10 most valuable companies change in the U.S. in the past 100 years reflects the worldwide change.
Talent like the Fortune 500 companies CEOs are precious. Fast replacement is not the best way to achieve lasting growth. Instead, business should choose their CEOs with the right tools and support them to build level 5 leadership or enduring greatness. It breaks my heart to see them disappear. What these Fortune 500 companies CEOs need is to strengthen self-monitoring system, build resilience, and update other parts AHEAD OF TIME, which is called “Stay Ahead.” Do those Fortune 500 companies CEOs know the necessity? Yes. However, they think that is someone else’s issue until it is too late. This is a typical “intractable issue” within us. I have been there, too, which is why “stay ahead” is included in the first and last practice classes of our Level 5 leadership curriculum and the book What Stops Leaders from Good to Great.
It is time to evaluate your self-monitoring system, resilience, associated parts, and build Level 5 leadership style to stay ahead. The technology has helped many other executives get ahead and stay ahead. Will the technology help you as well? Try the Mini Leadership Quiz or join the next webinar.
I love to hear your feedback. Please share the lesson from the Fortune 500 companies CEOs with your friends.
About the Author Bin Yang is a global CEO adviser, Dr. Leadership, and the Managing Director of The Prince Synergy (www.theprincesynergy.com), a leading consulting firm that focuses on building exceptional leaders and optimizing top team performance, and solves the hardest issues that no one else can. She authored What Stop Leaders from Good to Great, Take Your Leadership to Level Five. For more information or to schedule an interview, lecture or appointment, please contact us at 310-668-1828.
Δ
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.