Here is a kicker for the New Year, what do you see as the biggest impediment to the C-Suite going from surviving to thriving?
Team Work (lack of)28%
Personal Time (not enough)55%
Professional Development (need more)51%
Team Retreat (need to re-connect)17%
Tech Education/Simplification10%
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I selected Team Work, but it is bigger than that. It is shared alignment on strategy and vision on a longer term goal(s). The places where I've seen the c-suite struggle the most is where each person is operating in the best interest of their department or their goals, but not focusing on the big company goals and not making trade-offs from their self-interests to the larger company interests.
I would add courage (willingness to take risks, taking a stance on trigger actions/polarizing topics/unpopular opinions, etc.) as a significant impediment to the C-suite to move from surviving to thriving
Great insight, and sadly very true as the need for entrepreneurial spirit needs to be maintained in one form or another regardlessregardless of size
Also, courage to change the status quo. Operating the same way gets the job done. Changing the status quo is what differentiates good from Great!
None of the above! I would say confidence is the biggest factor. Being confident that they can move forward, that any recession will not have massive impact etc.
That's a good add and in conjunction with a response I made above, being able to fight back the quarterly pressures to look at the longer term is not for the feint of heart, hence how few actually do that.
Interesting question. I'm actually thinking through a scenario now, wherein the macro economy may actually start showing signs of impact in my industry, where tech goes backwards and costs are cut because of erroneous and dated assumptions.
Exactly! My experience is that many a c-suite don't look at the longer term movement of the economy nor the longer term affect of decisions (understandably in part to the quarter to quarter pressure on my Execs from Board s and investors). But as a result, there are knee jerk reactions, and tech/IT always seem to be deemed the first on the chopping block despite the long term value to success.
I'd add a provocative option to the list and good to see the insights from others, especially the ones on the long-term approach instead of the quarterly pressure and focus.
Based on my perception, there are quite a few people in C-suit who don't belong there, they just got appointed for some reason and loved the package that comes with it, but they don't like it, they don't want to improve their gaps in skills, they have a personal agenda instead of company agenda etc.....the list is long and it contributes to the surviving instead of thriving situation.
Same is true for board members in many cases.
Many who get to the door simply don't realise how much of a responsibility it will be, they don't have a plan, they rarely get any support (professionally or psychologically), but the expectations are increasing every year.
So I'd add these points to the list: psychological wellbeing and actual readiness for the position.