leadership

Excellence of execution is CEOs' top concern

According to a Conference Board global survey, execution is CEOs' No. 1 concern--even ranking above profit and top-line growth.

769 CEOs from 40 countries were asked to rate their greatest concerns from among 121 challenges. The polled CEOs selected "excellence of execution" as the top challenge and "keeping consistent execution of strategy by top management" as the third-greatest concern. Sustained and steady top-line growth, which led the list last year, now ranks second, with profit growth fourth and finding qualified managerial talent fifth.

The survey responses reveal some remarkable regional differences. CEOs from Europe expressed greater … Read more

One big idea is not enough: innovating innovation management

Management's focus on innovation comes and goes in cycles. Right now, it is all the rage again (although it remains to be seen if that's still the case as innovation budgets may be cut when the looming recession hits the US), and the business press is covering it all across the board. Managing innovation is one of the most critical tasks companies face, and yet it remains one of the biggest challenges. Not only do companies need to come up with new ideas, but they also need to nurture a culture that consistently encourages and rewards innovation. If … Read more

A designer as CEO: Should Jonathan Ive be Apple's next leader?

Steve Jobs shows no signs of retiring any time soon, but Jess McMullin, who runs the great Business+Design blog, thinks ahead and pre-emptively wraps his head around Apple's succession planning. In an open letter to the Apple board, he urges the directors to consider Jonathan Ive, Apple's SVP of industrial design, as Jobs' successor, if need be. (Mullin was obviously inspired by Bruce Nussbaum's "CEOs Must Be Designers, Not Just Hire Them" post several months ago.)

And yet--a designer as CEO? (Wearing the marketing hat for a renowned design consultancy, I am posing this … Read more

Practical advice for CEOs

No man (or woman) is an island, but I think some CEOs behave as if they're God's gift to corporate America. And what do we do to discourage that perception? Not much, I'm afraid. You don't think they get way up on those pedestals all by themselves, do you?

Lest we forget, CEOs are hired by their boards to lead a staff of highly qualified individuals in managing an enterprise. Yes, they are ultimately responsible for corporate performance--for which they are typically well compensated--but by no means are they solely responsible.

In fact, most CEOs have little or no direct or line responsibility for operating or administrative functions; those are typically handled by other executive officers. Exceptions are either temporary or dysfunctional, in my opinion.

In any case, this post is not about culpability and I don't wish to confuse the issue with facts. Dysfunctional behavior runs rampant in the executive ranks. Rather than try to be a shrink, I thought I'd provide some much needed feedback and unsolicited, practical advice to help CEOs cope...also to help us cope with them.… Read more

HP appoints leader for new Web services, software division

Printing has long been one of Hewlett-Packard's most reliable businesses, but recent moves show the company is trying to adapt to the very mobile and Web-centric world of documents.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-PC maker laid out its new plan to focus on the intersection of printing and the Web at an event last week in New York. After the glut of announcements regarding its new Printing 2.0 campaign, HP said Tuesday it has chosen someone to lead a new unit devoted to this effort.

David Murphy, 45, has been appointed senior vice president of the newly formed … Read more

Snooze your way to a better career

Ever have a dream so vivid that, even after you wake up, you think you're still dreaming? Then you go back to sleep and, later in the day when you try to recall the dream, you can't remember a thing.

So you think you'll be smart and have a pad and pen ready by your bedside so you can write it all down right away. Real smart. I did that recently. You know what I found when I woke up in the morning? An illegible jumbled mess that looked like a four year-old had written it. It took a few minutes to decipher the jumble. Here's what I'd written on the pad in the middle of the night:

Soaring, flying high with Kim (that's my wife), dad watching, mom there too, I think. Ice cream cones and pogo sticks. Happy.

I actually had to Google pogo sticks to find out what they were. Any amateur or professional shrinks out there want to tell me what that dream means? Is it normal for a 50 year-old former executive to dream about flying high (does "high" refer to altitude or stoned?) with ice cream while his folks watch, never mind what his wife was doing? I don't even want to know what the pogo sticks were for.… Read more

IBM Study: Online multiplayer games build business leaders

Hmmm, which would you choose?

Sitting in a dreary classroom to bone up on an MBA, or stretched out in an easy chair honing your business leadership skills while engaged in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)?

A study released by IBM and collaboration software maker Seriosity found significant parallels between business leaders and MMORPG gamers.

MMORPG games, which include World of Warcraft, Eve Online and EverQuest, can include millions of players who come together in various groups to accomplish a specific mission or task.

Gamers learn collaboration, self-organization, risk taking, openness, influence and how to earn incentives when … Read more

Dell appoints new chief accounting executive

In the midst of a federal investigation into its accounting practices, Dell has appointed a new chief accounting officer, Thomas Sweet.

Sweet, formerly Dell's vice president of finance for the public sector, succeeds Joan Hooper in the role. Hooper's new title is vice president of finance for the Americas region.

A Dell representative called Hooper's new assignment part of the company's rotation of executives and a "restructuring of its global finance leadership team," and would not comment on whether the move is related to the current Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the company'… Read more