Word count: 700

Summary: The relationship between boards of director and CEOs are vital to well-being of any company. Many boards and CEOs misunderstand that relationship and so are locked into a "spiral of doom." The author describes spiral and ways to stop it.

CEOs And Boards Are Locked In A Spiral Of Doom by Brent Filson

American CEOs are dropping like flies. Boards, armed with new federal rules and stock exchange requirements coming in wake of corporate scandals of past few years, are getting rid of underperforming CEOs at record rates. This trend is all more notable because it's happening during an improving economy and stock market.

However, real reasons for CEO bloodbath are being overlooked. Analysts pin bloodbath on CEOs. But it's not just CEOs who are failing. Boards are failing too. Working with thousands of leaders worldwide for more than twenty years, I've learned that there is a "spiral of doom" in relationship between many company boards and their CEOs. Most boards are clueless as to what leadership skills are needed for CEOs to succeed. So they hire clueless CEOs. Clueless boards hiring clueless CEOs -- it's classic spiral of doom.

The reason boards and CEOs misunderstand leadership is that recently there has been a tectonic shift in leadership skills CEOs need to succeed. In 80s and 90s, autocratic CEO reigned supreme. Many companies were like slow-moving ocean liners with autocratic captains giving orders to mates and mates giving orders to crew. But today combination of globalization and new, differently-manageable generations coming into workforce is creating need for new kinds of leadership. CEO leadership is no longer like piloting an ocean liner but like white water canoeing that calls for flattened organizations that can change rapidly and accurately, decentralized decision-making, motivated employees, and inspiring relationships.

In any event, getting process right is a vital component. The credibility of change managers will be scrutinised closely enough on issue itself, with all processes in place. If process is at fault too, then things can get very messy indeed.

Legalities

Legalities of how you are dealing with people issues must be resolved first with a clear understanding of HR technicalities, which requires right level of expertise. Within this are elements of fairness, consistency and honesty. Although subsets of well-researched HR framework, they save a lot of time, energy and emotion if considered in advance and protocols carefully positioned.

Timescales

Appropriate timescales in changing people issues will need to be carefully dealt with as part of HR overview, but it can be easy to slip. A good way to work is using a simple project management process for whole event, working for as far back as week –12 to week +12 and setting this into a spreadsheet or a Gantt Chart.