Chief Executive Officers of the most reputable multinational corporations are not infallible when it comes to making big mistakes in their careers. These are the top five mistakes in career management that CEOs can commit:
Not being totally aware of their strengths
It is possible that success can muffle the CEO’s intelligence. Another factor that tends to make the top corporate leader is overconfidence. The typical CEO has the tendency to stand out in one phase of the business cycle like growth or turnaround. Unfortunately, he or she fails to deal with the risks.
Overcome by Status
Some CEOs get overwhelmed by the extent of an accomplishment or opportunity. This person must not be blinded by the scope of an achievement. It is important to be cautious all the time. A practical CEO must leave the company proud of his or her achievements and positive about the organization’s future. Otherwise, this is a big oversight.
Ignoring Advice
Over-confidence can reduce the need to share and listen. Corporate executives must realize their weak points in their careers and find immediate solutions. Smart CEOs should ask subordinates to provide honest feedback on their performance and suggestions on how to improve. Ill-advised CEO's will rarely listen to others and pay attention to people who are inefficient and poor performers.
Making Impulsive Decisions
Too much haste can lead to more blunders. In the same manner, weak decisions in management can put an end to the CEO’s career. Some of these executives do not understand the actual organizational background or framework and culture which produced current situations. Others simply do not put in enough time to understand core issues behind a major predicament. These CEOs choose to rush and formulate a thoughtless conclusion.
Poor Judgment
It is not right for any CEO to believe that he or she is an excellent judge of career potentials and personality. An incompetent CEO makes appointments for reasons other than the employee being the most qualified candidate. This is not correct. This speaks of inadequate self-awareness. There will be many people telling the chief executive that he or she is a celebrity or a very good leader. The million-dollar question is are these persons telling the truth? Only the CEO will know this and make the right judgment.
Examples of CEOs from Fortune 500 Companies
There are many chief executive officers like Blackberry’s Thorstein Heins and Sear’s Eddie Lampert who have committed the most atrocious boo-boos. These range from covering up behavior to destroy stock values of their respective companies to coming up with dreadfully offensive statements that led to ridicule and in once instance, rejection of the company’s brand and products.
Another infamous CEO is Ken Lay of ENRON (Natural Gas firm) which incurred $101 billion sales in 2000 as a result of various expansions and acquisitions. Lay was appointed CEO in 1986 and steered the corporation to its prestigious standing and success. He was so successful that the company was hailed by Fortune as the most innovative company of America for six consecutive years. Then, it was learned that ENRON concealed parts of its liabilities and removed them from the balance sheets. In short, majority of the corporation’s revenues and assets were manipulated. ENRON had no choice but to file for bankruptcy. Ken Lay was indicted and found guilty of fraud as well as other charges.
A fifth is John Sculley who fired Steve Jobs from Apple. He became CEO of this technology giant in 1983 from Pepsi Corporation. Sculley espoused expensive marketing campaigns but he lacked product management skills. He invested in many failed undertakings which included Apple’s Newton PDA and camera devices. This cost the man his job.