Sent: June 22, 2:00 p.m.
From: Jane, Director of Marketing
To: Bob, Director of Business Development
Subject: Craig’s Role
Bob,
Have you seen Craig this week at all? I thought he was coming to the quarterly marketing meeting, but he was a no-show. Does he have a new schedule, or…?
Jane
Sent: June 22, 3:00 p.m.
From: Bob, Director of Business Development
To: Jane, Director of Marketing
CC: Ed, Director of Operations
Subject: RE: Craig’s Role
Jane,
I think he went fishing on Monday. He put some pictures on the company’s Facebook page that I think he meant to put on his personal page. Ed, do you know if he interviewed that candidate you have for supervisor? I saw the guy in the lobby; he looked lost.
Bob
Sent: June 22, 3:30 p.m.
From: Ed, Director of Operations
To: Jane, Director of Marketing; Bob, Director of Business Development
CC: Sue, Receptionist
Subject: RE: RE: Craig’s Role
Bob and Jane,
Nope. He was a no-show. He said he wanted to interview all candidates for supervisory positions, but he missed the last one and was a no-show for this one. I need to make this hire, so I’m just going to do it without him.
Sue, do you know where Craig is?
Ed
Sent: June 22, 4:00 p.m.
From: Sue, Receptionist
To: Jane, Director of Marketing; Bob, Director of Business Development; Ed, Director of Operations
CC: Matthew, COO
Subject: RE: RE: RE: Craig’s Role
All,
I do not know where Craig is, but I usually keep his calendar. I can tell you that the bank is coming in for a three-hour meeting tomorrow, so I assume he’ll be here.
Matthew, are you in that meeting?
Sue
Sent: June 22, 4:30 p.m.
From: Matthew, COO
To: Jane, Director of Marketing; Bob, Director of Business Development; Ed, Director of Operations; Sue, Receptionist
CC: Jill, Director of HR
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: Craig’s Role
All,
Craig has decided to take on a more limited role as CEO so that his schedule is more flexible. Please copy me on any important meetings you were expecting him to be in.
Matthew
Sent: June 22, 5:00 p.m.
From: Bob, Director of Business Development
To: Jane, Director of Marketing; Ed, Director of Operations; Sue, Receptionist; Matthew, COO
CC: Jill, Director of HR
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Craig’s Role
Was he going to announce this to the management team, or are we just now finding this out? Who is approving my budget? Who’s on point to close the new business that we just landed?
Bob
Sent: June 22, 5:30 p.m.
From: Jane, Director of Marketing
To: Bob, Director of Business Development; Jane, Director of Marketing; Ed, Director of Operations; Sue, Receptionist; Matthew, COO CC: Jill, Director of HR
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Craig’s Role
I have a quarterly strategic-marketing plan that was due today. Who am I presenting to now?
Jane
Sent: June 22, 6:00 p.m.
From: Sue, Receptionist
To: Bob, Director of Business Development; Jane, Director of Marketing; Ed, Director of Operations; Sue, Receptionist; Matthew, COO CC: Jill, Director of HR
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Craig’s Role
He’s supposed to tweet something about company strategy. It’s on his calendar. Should I tweet something for him? What should it say?
Sue
LET’S GET REAL
And in a few short hours on a random Monday, Craig completely abdicated his position as CEO. Congrats on your retirement, Craig!
“Surround yourself with great people and let them do their jobs” is excellent advice for any leader or CEO. Never forget it and practice it every day. But it does not mean that as a CEO you can or should be an absentee leader, and it certainly does not mean the role of CEO isn’t essential and needed. Many leaders— and this is especially true for company founders—lose sight of their job description and duties over time. They surround themselves with capable and talented people, and the actual job description of the CEO becomes muddled. These leaders often feel nonessential to the business, or they may feel that they are too tempted to meddle, so they dissociate themselves from the day-to-day operations.
Once their businesses grow to the point of having strong senior-management teams, many founders have reached their burnout point. They may have been at it for ten to twenty years, or perhaps the business has outgrown them, and they no longer feel like they know enough about the business to add value. Whatever the case may be, take a break to rejuvenate if you must, but do not abdicate such an important role without being crystal clear with your team about who’s really running the show.
If you are the CEO and intend to remain the CEO, you must do the job. Consider writing, or having someone else write, a renewed job description with specific duties and responsibilities. Are you doing this job? Do you want to do this job? Because if you don’t, you can’t have the title regardless of your ownership status.
If you’re an owner, consider taking yourself off the org chart and promoting your number 2 person to president or CEO. If you are not an owner and are merely holding a title with no accountability, then you’re doing the business a disservice.
Chief Executive Officer is the highest-ranking position in any business, and whoever has this title is accountable for all management decisions. This role means you show up and do the job, or you make the toughest management decision of them all, and you make it for yourself: you’re not the right person for the job.
To get your copy of “How (NOT) to Create a Winning Strategy” click here.