How To Make Your CEO Brand A Leader.

What exactly is a CEO anyway? According to best selling author Warren Bennis in his book, "On Becoming A Leader," he sums it up this way:
"All leaders have four essential competencies. First, they are able to engage others by creating shared meaning. Second, all authentic leaders have a distinctive voice.The third quality is that all true leaders have integrity. But the one competence that I now realize is absolutely essential for leaders - the key competence- is adaptive capacity."

A great CEO as a leader - leads. A good many companies make decisions by consensus as if their business were a democracy, which it is not, or at least shouldn't be. If a business takes a consensus among it's stakeholders every time is makes a decision that involves which direction the company adopts to move forward, then chances are greater that the result will be mediocre at best. When it comes to matters of vision, the leader of the company should make the bold moves and inspire the stakeholders to "follow" his lead. The CEO Brand as leader uses their charisma to embolden staff to see their vision and embrace it as their own.

Poor CEO Brands look to the vision of others to help them. They follow the competition - anything rather than making a decision themselves. Great employees would be wise not to tie their wagons to this horse. Poor CEO Brands revel in their self-importance and fail to see the damage they are inflicting on the overall brand. These individuals are one step away from crashing.

A great CEO Brand stands by their convictions and surround themselves with the best talent to see their vision realized. They are true to themselves and the overall brand of the company. Stakeholders love to follow leaders and the marketplace idolizes them, ie: Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Warren Buffet, Oprah and Donald Trump to name a few.

As a CEO Brand, which are you - a leader or a follower?