Is the New CEO Allowed to Care?
By Stephen Manallack
Caring or Tough
The brand experts and advertising gurus tell us that "caring
is commercial," but this has not changed the behavior
or profile of many chief executives. For example, a tough
new CEO is appointed to a company, announces employee
cutbacks and suddenly the share price soars. No room for
caring, it seems.
Yet other stories reveal a different side. One new
chief immediately canceled the daily VIP lunch delivered
to his office and instead went down to the staff canteen,
sitting among his workforce.
In a third case, a tough CEO confronts an aggressive
media at an annual meeting and declares in a no compromise
tone, "Our task it to manage the business to provide
maximum return for our shareholders - end of story."
But is it?
In these cases, communicators provide support and advice,
yet in many instances the decision about profile (caring
or tough) is made before they are called in. The battle
to change the performance and profile of leaders has
to start with the leaders themselves.
The Benefits of Caring
The following words should hang permanently on the wall
of any would-be leader: People don't care how much you
know until they know how much you care. The significance
of having lunch in the canteen was that this new CEO
cared about what employees thought. The message behind
the tough CEO's remarks, something we are all too familiar
with and which may have done irreparable harm to corporate
reputation, is that nothing will stand in the way of
the drive for profits.
While at the employee level we can accept this act
of "caring," few at the top are ready to see
a caring brand or reputation as providing either a shareholder
or a commercial advantage. Many view it as a sign of
weakness, expecting to be hurt by the market if they
let their "tough" guard slip.
Yet a survey of 7,500 workers by the United States
firm Watson Wyatt found real dollar benefits within
caring organizations: Highly committed employees produce
a 112 percent three-year total return to shareholders,
whereas those with low employee commitment returned
76 percent.
In addition, when businesses lose their customers,
in 70 percent of these cases, those customers are lost
because they had problems with the personal aspect of
the business relations.
Making a Strong Brand
The evidence for caring goes further; the Gallup group
is the leading researcher of what makes up a strong
brand, and their findings highlight the value of human
qualities. Gallup looked at customer loyalty and brand
advantage, and the results indicate that people want
a brand that:
- listens to me, cares for me
- reliably delivers what it promises
- is always interesting by being different or innovative
- wraps up our dealings smoothly and simply
- is happy and projects this happiness.
Any aspiring or new CEO would do well to think of himself
as a "brand" and test how he matches up against
the key brand features.
Reinforcing the point that nobody cares how much you
know until they know how much you care, most of the
Gallup brand features have human qualities. For example,
we want brands that listen to us, that care for us,
that are interesting and happy.
People Leaders
If Gallup is right, modern business is truly a people
business. This means that modern chief executives will
truly need to be people leaders, using their own humanity
to show the way.
For many, this step into the personal side, into human
values such as caring and listening is foreign territory;
after all, business schools and work experience do not
necessarily address caring for others. Now we know there
are real dollars and real advantages in doing just that.
The danger signal for the CEO that is still wrapped
up in being tough, projecting a harsh approach and building
an image as a ruthless leader is that reputations do
stick. One day, this reputation could be a huge disadvantage.
One wise sage said that a man wrapped up in himself
is a small parcel. Another urged us to remember that
we're unique, just like everybody else. But my aphorism
is that the only difference between a rut and a grave
is the depth. In other words, getting out of that rut,
letting your guard down and revealing more of yourself
could be the one vital ingredient for future success.
Stephen Manallack is a communication consultant, professional
speaker and author of "You Can Communicate"
Pearson 2002. He can be contacted by e-mail at sm@labyrinth.net.au
or by phone at +613 9827 9368.
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