CEO Coaching: Don’t Break It!
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reported on the leadership change at Chipotle after their CEO was poached to run Starbucks. The article suggests that the new CEO, Scott Boatwright, has a straightforward job: “Don’t break it!”
Years ago, I was called by a private equity firm to coach the CEO of one of their new acquisitions. Just days before I was supposed to start, they fired him and asked me to “hold down the fort” while they found a new permanent CEO. I took them at their word when they said it would just be hand-holding—no heavy lifting required. I agreed but told them that I had other clients and could only do this “part-time.” Yeah, right!
Within the first two weeks, I had to orchestrate a layoff, the bank called in our line of credit, and one of the business’s key assets (intellectual property) turned out to be… let’s say, less than legitimate. Hand-holding, my ass!
There’s no such thing as treading water when you’re in a senior leadership role, especially as a CEO. Things happen. Contaminated food happens. Supply chains get tangled. People quit. Lawsuits crop up. And, of course, the future has a funny way of not looking like the past, which means you need new capabilities and strategies to just tread water, let alone grow and prosper!
So, if someone asks you to lead and says, “Just don’t break it,” do yourself a favor and run. Leaders who are on cruise control haven’t looked around the corner—and that’s where the trouble lies!
coaches CEOs to higher levels of success. He is a former CEO and has led teams as large as 7,000 people. Todd is the author of, Never Kick a Cow Chip On A Hot Day: Real Lessons for Real CEOs and Those Who Want To Be (Morgan James Publishing).
Connect with Todd on LinkedIn, Twitter, call 303-527-0417 or email [email protected].
