It has been argued that given the challenging economic environment that all companies operate in today, it is unfair to hold the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) responsible and accountable for the performance and results of the companies they run. Rather the cause for bad performance should be blamed on the environment and that of good results attributable to the CEO. In the 2008 issue of the Jamaica Stock Exchanges’ CEO report a number of CEO commented sharing their viewpoint on the matter.

Michael Bernard, Managing Director of Carreras Group Limited “The CEO's role is to deliver growth in shareholder value regardless of the economic climate."

Michael Bernard, Managing Director of Carreras Group Limited, who did not make the 2007 top CEO list (#in 2006), remarked “The CEO’s role is to deliver growth in shareholder value regardless of the economic climate. The current economic challenges have not altered my role, but rather, they have allowed me to be more innovative, effective and efficient in using all the resources at my disposal to successfully deal with the challenges.”

But while the performance of the company is their ultimate responsibility, it is increasingly been argued that team development is equally if not more important, simply because the CEO cannot do it alone and so the team built around them greatly impacts this performance.

Sandra Shirley, President First Global Financial Services Limited “In my opinion, today the role of the CEO is to facilitate staff innovation and team building for better service delivery."

Sandra Shirley, President First Global Financial Services Limited, commented in the CEO report that “In my opinion, today the role of the CEO is to facilitate staff innovation and team building for better service delivery. In today’s corporate environment, we employ professionals with a view that they will enable us to draw on the knowledge base and expertise available and make prudent decisions. Formerly, only a few people knew where their organization was going and how each person contributed to the whole. Today, everyone must understand the overall strategy of the organization so that they can find meaning in their work and be self-actualized.

I also believe that a good CEO is someone who can pull people together and build a team. There is a movement towards coaching in institutions and mentoring for
excellence, which is a new approach to management. Very often, people simply want to be appreciated. A word of encouragement and a feeling that management is
compassionate, rather than purely extractive is critical.”

Oliver Clarke, Chairman of the Gleaner Company suggested that “ With the changes being faced in today’s global economy, CEO’s need less to be the field experts than to be able to motivate, inspire and lead their team towards the company’s vision. The role of CEO has evolved from being heavy transactional to being more transformational. This role is largely geared towards building the right team with the right mix of competencies and ensuring a healthy pipeline of future leaders through great emphasis on succession planning. The greatest measure of the CEO’s success is the successful motivation of a company’s employees towards a vision, which maximises shareholder and stakeholder value. Only then is its sustainability ensured.”

“Gone are the days when the CEO’s responsibilities were limited to being in charge of the organisation’s reputation and its financial performance. The CEO’s role is now dynamic and involves developing the organisation’s structure; communicating with investors; participating in succession sequence planning; and preparing strategic plans with stated objectives. The most significant measure is the proper execution of company strategies” commented Gary Peart CEO Mayberry Investments Limited.

Dr. Anita Davis-DeFoe, President/CEO of the Afia Development Corporation, “What we are witnessing is organizations shifting from simplistic command and control, hierarchically managed systems which are relatively effective when the external environments are stable, to open social systems comprised more of delegated authority, self-regulating teams and differentiated decision-making.”

Dr. Anita Davis-DeFoe, President/CEO of the Afia Development Corporation, a international performance management and leadership consulting firm shared, “What we are witnessing is organizations shifting from simplistic command and control, hierarchically managed systems which are relatively effective when the external environments are stable, to open social systems comprised more of delegated authority, self-regulating teams and differentiated decision-making.”

Davis-DeFoe continued, “No longer can CEOs simply be transactional, that is just focused on completing some business activity; considering global competition, technological advancement, and more important these days, talent management and retention concerns, it is now an imperative that CEOs are visionary transformational leaders who can engage his or her team; their willingness to give the best of their knowledge and innovative genius; focused on the organizational mission and performance excellence. The CEO and the team of managers must be continuously focused on process improvement, because contrary to what some want to believe, people are not the sole cause of organizational ineffectiveness, it is dysfunctional processes left unchecked that spawn poor results. I can spend a day in any organization and pinpoint opportunities for improvement by merely auditing their processes.”

Clearly, organizational performance and competitive edge are intrinsically linked to a leader’s ability to mesh vision, strategy, planning, people and processes; and today’s CEO must achieve a balance amongst these key organizational inputs while modelling a commitment to a culture of excellence as he or she coaches the team toward a common goal.