In one sentence: Things don’t tumble down or get stuck when he’s not around.
Everything a leader does will be connected to a meaning.
Before giving meaning, our interpretation takes place. Interpretation is not exact or objective, it’s very personal.
Interpretation is heavily influenced by your experience and your belief system … and we all have different ones.
So sometimes, we miss the right meaning if we are pushed into a situation where we need to interpret. In other words, we guess.
How to push people into interpretation?
Communicate vaguely. Follow political correctness. Try not to step on anyone’s toes. Hide your feelings.
An example: Let’s pick the sentence “How do I recognize a good CEO?”. Is this a clear question?
No, the meaning is vague! *Good for what or whom*? Maybe *when* do we need a good one; always, only in the morning? *Why* is this even relevant? *What* are the *problems* a good CEO would solve?
A good answer to *Good for whom* would be: “for the whole organization”. That’s the responsibility of the CEO; taking care of the whole system and ensuring the required interaction can happen.
Do you have children? It’s not about being an adult, it’s about what we wish for our children in 20-30 years.
Let’s separate *constraints* from *things* *under* their *control*. We want children who think and act for themselves. That’s the key to happiness.
Your general conditions (Rahmenbedingungen) or your social environment are absolutely irrelevant. To prove this, take a look at Victor Frankl’s story: In an inhuman environment, he was able to save his own will and thoughts against all odds. He became unbreakable.
Especially as CEO, everything you say and do is interpreted and takes on meaning. Even if the CEO is not there, he communicates, because the employees might ask themselves: “Is he not there because we/our things are not important? Or because he’s not interested in us or doesn’t care about us?
And if you ask him “Hey, we noticed you weren’t there. Is everything okay?”, you might get a completely understandable answer that has nothing to do with the negative, abstruse assumptions before. E.g. “I wanted to give you the stage so that everyone knows it’s your success and not mine.”
As soon as you speak to each other, replace the invented meaning with your intended meaning.
A simple trick to debunk invented meanings. Ask yourself, “Can I really know that?”
The “good” CEO
You want employees who think for themselves, right?
You can easily support them by clearly communicating that this is exactly what you expect of them. And because you’re not perfect either, encourage them that your employees should, indeed must, correct you, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing their job. Encourage your employees to hold each other accountable (this is especially true at different hierarchical levels). The basic requirement is “Psychological Safety”. You will find out whether you have this sufficiently.
Studies on the “Positivity Ratio” have shown that a negative experience needs about 3-5 positive experiences to be overcome. So slow down sometimes and think about how and what you say.
People who are in a power imbalance with each other are generally familiar with the concept of “carrot and stick” from childhood.
If someone else takes responsibility away from us, it damages our intrinsic motivation. At that moment, success and failure lie with the “thief”. The employee becomes a supporting actor. He is no longer responsible, not accountable, not self-determined but definitely angry if you have previously told him: “I have confidence in you. You can make the decisions.”
Don’t say something like that unless you really mean it.
Instead, provide an environment that allows people to make errors (without crashing the whole company).
It’s your job as CEO to live this by example as you are a role model for all other leaders/managers in your company.