新时代如何当一名合格CEO：会“做事”，更要会“做人”

当领导从来都不是一件容易的事，在外部因素纷繁复杂的当下——比如地缘政治争端、社会激进主义者的压力、越来越难伺候的新一代员工，以及数字革命的挑战等等——经营一家大公司比以往任何时候都更具挑战，也更有危险性。你只要看看有多少公司走马灯似地换CEO就知道了。根据我们的调查，过去十年中，超过三分之一以上的全球性大企业都换了三位以上的CEO。

由于成功对领导力的要求正在发生改变，CEO的角色也同样在发生变化。时势造英雄，也造就了不同的领导艺术，上一代CEO更习惯于命令与控制，爱搞从上而下的治理模式，然而当代的CEO已经意识到，他们应该遵循一种更灵活、适应性更强、更有自知之明的管理模式。伴随着新时代的要求，企业高管们承认，要想获得企业团队、其他高管乃至董事会的帮助，他们必须能够展示作为领导者的人性的一面。

在一项最新调查中，亿康先达公司就领导力问题访问了来自11个国家的402名CEO，这些受访企业的总收入约达2.6万亿美元。当被问到他们是否需要对自身做出改变以适应他们的企业时，79%的受访CEO回答“是”。他们明白，传统的等级制度和照方抓药的管理模式早已不能适应今天的企业了。如今的CEO要同时掌舵两项改革，不仅要改革自身的领导能力，同时还要推动企业进行类似的改革。

令人鼓舞的是，面对职责任务的新挑战，CEO们对自己的应对能力，也就是“做事”方面，还是很有信心的，近四分之三（74%）的受访CEO表示，他们此前的成绩和经验已经让他们充分做好了当一名合格CEO的准备。超过五分之四（82%）的受访CEO表示，他们在塑造企业愿景的过程中表现得游刃有余。

但说到“做人”方面，也就是在处理那些不好把握、更加感性化的问题上，很多CEO都表现出了挫败感。一个人要想完成成功所需的自我改革，其实是很不容易的。近半数（48%）受访者表示，想找出时间自省得失，要比想象的困难得多。同时，很多CEO发现，CEO角色的“人性化”因素也是很难培养的。近半数（47%）受访者表示，培养一支合格的主管团队要比预计的困难。50%的受访者称，推动企业文化变革也比预想的难得多。

之所以发生这种现象，可能是由于很多CEO为自我变革和公司变革所做的准备远远不够。很多时候，他们所做的准备都是基于经验的，他们搞的一些领导力培训也没有把自我认知或者如何适应环境变化作为重点。有近半（44%）受访CEO表示，他们的公司没有正式的培养接班人的计划。在那些有接班人计划的公司里，有19%的公司也执行得非常不好。有意思的是，“内推”上位的CEO总体上还没有“空降”的CEO有自信。只有28%的“内推”CEO表示他们已经充分做好了接任CEO的准备，而外部“空降”的CEO则有38%表示了自信。

雪上加霜的是，很多CEO认为，他们必须独自承担决策的责任。只有38%的CEO表示，他们在决策时会征求董事会主席的意见。这或许是由于CEO们不愿意显得自己缺乏主见，也可能是由于董事会太过注重流程和业绩，而对领导力的其他因素不够关心的缘故。董事会必须关注CEO的持续发展，毕竟选中一名CEO，只是一段旅程的起点，而不是终点。

为什么这一点很重要呢?因为CEO们如果不知道如何运用人性的一面，他们就必将失败。而CEO的失败，不仅仅是他们个人的事，也是股东、员工、客户等所有利益相关者的失败。CEO不仅需要培养战略战术思考能力，还要培养倾听和回应的能力；不仅要善于倾听团队的声音，也要善于倾听自己的声音。

不过令人振奋的是，如今的CEO们已经意识到，社会对他们的领导能力的要求已经发生了显著变化，这也给他们带来了新的机遇和挑战。要想对此做好充分准备，CEO们不仅要为“做事”，更要学会“做人”。（财富中文网）

本文作者Kati Najipoor-Schüette和 Dick Patton均为亿康先达公司全球 CEO实践部的负责人。

译者：朴成奎 

Leadership has never been easy. Yet given the current volatility of the external world—stemming from geopolitical uncertainty, activist pressure, a new generation of employees, and digital disruption—running a large company is both more challenging and less secure than it’s ever been, as the daily drumbeat of CEO departures shows. Indeed, according to our own research, more than one-third of the world’s largest public companies have had three or more CEOs in the past decade.

CEO roles are also changing because the kind of leadership required for success has changed. Today’s leaders know and appreciate that the paradigm has shifted to a flexible, adaptable, and above all, self-aware model—just as a generation of executives who were shaped in a more command-and-control, top-down era takes charge. As they enter this new era of leadership, chief executives acknowledge that they need help bringing out the more human side of being a leader—from their teams, their peers, and, most of all, their boards of directors.

In a new survey, Egon Zehnder asked 402 chief executives from 11 countries—CEOs whose companies together make up an estimated $2.6 trillion in revenues—about leadership. When asked if they needed the capacity to transform themselves in tandem with their organization, 79% said yes. They understand that the hierarchical and clinical approach to being a CEO no longer works. CEOs today see themselves on a dual journey—one in which they evolve as leaders as their own companies are in a similar state of transformation.

Encouragingly, CEOs expressed confidence in their ability to handle the practical aspects of the role—the “doing” part, as we call it. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of surveyed CEOs said their prior achievements and experiences prepared them to be CEO. More than four-fifths (82%) said they were comfortable shaping the overall vision for the company.

But when it came to “being” CEO—personifying the less tangible, more emotional parts of leadership—chief executives shared feelings of frustration. Achieving the personal transformation required for leadership success has proven difficult: Nearly half (48%) said that finding time for self-reflection was tougher than expected. Meanwhile, many CEOs found the ‘human’ aspect of the role more difficult than expected. Almost half (47%) said that developing their senior leadership team was harder than anticipated, and 50% said the same about driving culture change.

This may be because many CEOs reached the corner office with preparation that covers only a fraction of what is needed. Often, their track record has included experience-oriented preparation or leadership-oriented training that did not focus on self-awareness or adaptability to changing circumstances. Nearly half (44%) of CEOs said they did not go through a formal succession process, and of those who had, 19% rated the process as poor. Interestingly, CEOs who had been internally selected were less confident overall than those brought in from the outside, with just 28% of them saying they were fully prepared for the role, compared with 38% of external hires.

Complicating matters is the fact that many CEOs feel they must bear the burden of decision-making alone. In an alarming statistic, just 38% of CEOs said they look to their board chairs for feedback. This may be because CEOs are not supposed to admit vulnerability—or it may be because directors are focusing too much on process and performance and not enough on the other elements of leadership. Boards must work on continuous development of their CEOs; after all, the selection of a chief executive is a starting point, not an end point.

Why does this matter? Because if CEOs are not well versed in the human side of the role, they will fail—and the implications of that failure will affect not just their own success, but that of all stakeholders—shareholders, employees, and customers alike. CEOs shared that they need to develop not only their strategic and tactical thinking, but also their ability to listen and respond—both to their team members and, critically, to themselves.

We are heartened by the realization of CEOs that their leadership requirements have changed dramatically—and that that comes with both challenges and opportunities. But we must do as good of a job preparing executives to “be” CEO as to “do” the job itself.

Kati Najipoor-Schüette and Dick Patton co-lead the Global CEO Practice at Egon Zehnder.