The most important ability of a CEO
We’ve all been in those end-of-year meetings when the plan for next year is presented to the company: goals, projects, priorities… and if we’re lucky, the why behind what we’re doing so the team actually wants to create what’s being asked of them. The charts look good. What we’re going for is clear. New benchmarks are established with timelines and target dates. We are told we will work together to accomplish these important goals, and if we do, big party, big bonus, big award. I always loved these meetings because I’m a rah-rah type of person. I love goals, challenges, plans… but now that I am a CEO myself, I realize that one thing was missing from all those end-of-year company meetings.
The unshakable belief that we can -- and the energy that comes with such strong belief.
That feeling that it’s almost meant to be. That though it seems hard, even out of reach, the why behind what we’re doing is so strong that miracles will show up when we dig deep and bring our best work forward. We don’t have to understand exactly how we’ll get there, but we do need to believe that we can. And the CEO has to believe it the most. Their conviction has to be so strong that it can be felt in the room, that it brings tears to people’s eyes. When people with a shared belief, a shared mission, come together, their collective energy and focus can create things never created before.
This is the most important ability of any CEO: to spark a will to achieve the impossible and a deep belief that the collective energy of the team leads to limitless creativity and innovation.
Why is that so crucial? When someone believes, deep down, that what they’re trying to do is achievable, they will continue to go after it even when they meet with failure, roadblocks, naysayers. They will push on, pick themselves up, and get more creative, more resourceful, more determined to make it happen. It’s the belief that they can that drives them to produce the best work of their life.
So yes, “start with why,” run the projections and get everyone pointed in the same direction, but just sharing the why and the projection graphs without deeply communicating the “we can!” won’t get people through the valleys of innovation. They’ll sit in those valleys, half-heartedly trying, thinking they gave it a good shot. It was a big vision, a tall mountain to climb.
The CEO must be able to inspire their team to believe in their own abilities. They can do what they haven’t done yet. They can create something never created before. They can find a way to do what they did last year twice as fast and at half the price.
The CEO is a coach. Removing limiting beliefs. Leading people to recognize their own power. Encouraging personal responsibility. Translating a feeling of hope, that you can fall, fall and fall again and still make it. Because you can.
And the best way for the CEO to become a coach is to have one. I’m not talking about a coach who helps you communicate better, be more productive, become a more likable leader. I’m talking about a coach who helps you get past your own BS and believe in something greater. Believe that what you don’t see nonetheless exists. That 1+1 doesn’t always equal 2. That there is a magic when people come together with a shared energetic direction, and it works in our favor when we align the mission of our company the energy and belief of our people. This is when miracles can happen, 10x growth when we projected 2x. And if you can tap into the energy of I CAN, even just a little bit, you can motivate others to reach beyond what they thought they could ever achieve. Period.
Collective Gain offers programs and support for the whole company – so the energetic shift can begin to happen now, for you and your teams. It’s the quickest way to get your people engaged and believing in the impossible – because when they understand the depths of their own abilities, they strive to create what was never created. Everyone wants to be part of a winning team.
Email me to learn more – lizzie@collectivegain.com -- or schedule time for a 30-minute chat. All conversations are kept confidential.
The most successful CEOs and senior leaders rely on something more than what they know. They’re willing and open to exploring something greater, and once they do, they begin to understand that in business, the collective energy of the company as a whole is their most powerful asset. When you move to a whole new level of belief, the game shifts, and that’s when 1+1 = 10.
