The Illusion of Power: Why CEO’s Have Less Influence Than They Think

首席执行官可能是公司权力的顶峰——至少在组织结构图上是这样——但问问任何bet36365体育网站公司转型的首席执行官，谁才是真正的掌舵bet36365体育网站.

The insightful ones will tell you—it isn’t them. Not really.

In our work with organizations large and small, across the US and internationally, we’ve noticed something interesting. Regardless of what leaders say and do, 组织的进步似乎几乎完全取决于他们下面的bet36365体育网站和专家的日常决策. 

如果你想认识公司成功(或倒闭)的真正缔造者，, talk to the managers, supervisors, and front-line workers. Each day, 他们做出成千上万的决定，这些决定要么支持执行团队的方向，要么暗中破坏它.

Quietly, subtly, they decide:

• What will I work on today?
• What will I prioritize?
• How will I talk about my work to my coworkers and customers?
• Will I follow the rules or work around them?
• Will I follow established practices or innovate new ones?
• And on and on.

不幸的是，ceo们往往会高估自己的重要性. An in-depth time study 哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)教授迈克尔•波特(michael Porter)和尼廷•诺里亚(Nitin Nohria)的研究发现，ceo们只花6%的时间与一线团队在一起, on average, and only 3% with customers.

当高管陷入过度依赖直接下属沟通和影响他bet36365体育网站的陷阱时, 研究bet36365体育网站员认为，他们有可能降低自己在员工眼中的“合法性和可信度”, which is essential to motivating them and winning their support.”

The results? Anemic engagement. Disappointing growth. Strategies that fail to produce the desired outcome.

Effective CEO’s need a new mindset that centers employees, not as “resources,” but as powerful architects of the organization’s success. Here’s how.

3 Mindset Shifts to Drive Real Progress

Before you sell ideas to your customers, sell them to your team.
bet36365体育网站者通常不认为有必要向团队解释或证明战略的合理性，但当你开始要求团队成员做一些取得成功所必需的困难事情时，这就成了一个真正的问题. Great leaders don’t just generate strategy. They influence, persuade, educate, and excite people to implement it. The ability to tell a persuasive story helps, 但是，即使是斯多葛派的bet36365体育网站bet36365体育网站也可以通过一点谦逊和对事实的透明陈述走得更远.

Give others the tools to make decisions when you’re not in the room.
You can’t be everywhere at once, and even if you could, 你不会从使组织强大的想法和观点的多样性中受益. Instead of weighing in on every key decision, 把你做决定的原则和考虑因素教给别bet36365体育网站. 我们称之为“bet36365体育网站者的指导”，把这些原则写下来是个好主意. Over time, 本指南可以帮助提高决策的质量和一致性……即使你不在身边.

当你不理解或不同意所陈述的障碍时，更努力地倾听.
“Just do it” works for Nike, but it’s not a great leadership tactic. I’ve heard well-meaning, 否则，有才华的bet36365体育网站者将障碍和障碍称为“抱怨”,” “resistance to change,” and “naysayers” more times than I can count. Sometimes, they’re right. But more often, these leaders are abdicating their responsibility to make change easier, not harder, for their teams.

Bottom line? bet36365体育网站者可以控制方向盘，但组织是汽车的内脏. Without them, you aren’t going to get far.