Board of Directors | Business management | Management
The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is the person ultimately responsible for the direction, performance, and culture of a company. They sit at the intersection of vision and execution.
What the CEO actually does:
- Sets the vision â where is this company going? What does success look like in 3, 5, 10 years? The CEO owns the strategic direction.
- Builds the team â the CEOâs most important job is hiring the right leaders and putting them in the right seats. A great CEO with a bad team fails. A good CEO with a great team wins.
- Allocates resources â capital, talent, attention. Every allocation is a strategic bet. What you fund is what you believe in.
- Represents the company â to investors, to the market, to employees, to the public. The CEO is the face and voice of the organization.
- Makes the hard calls â the decisions that nobody else can or will make. Pivots, layoffs, partnerships, ethical dilemmas. These land on the CEOâs desk.
What a CEO is NOT:
- Not the smartest person in the room (hopefully)
- Not the one doing all the work
- Not a dictator â good CEOs build consensus and empower their teams
- Not infallible â the best CEOs are wrong often, but they learn fast
The relationship between CEO and Board of Directors: the board represents shareholders and provides oversight and guidance. The CEO reports to the board and executes the strategy they approve. This balance of power prevents any one person from having unchecked authority.
Different stages require different CEO skills: a startup CEO needs to do everything. A growth-stage CEO needs to hire and delegate. A mature-company CEO needs to optimize and strategize. Few people excel at all three stages.
Related: Board of Directors, Business management, Hiring and firing, Management