CEO Failure Mode: The Master Strategist

Part of a potentially endless series on the pitfalls of the CEO role

Ideas are a commodity. Execution of them is not. —Michael Dell

One of the paradoxes at the core of the CEO job is this: You have full responsibility for the outcomes of the organization, but you lack full control over its daily activities.

When faced with the intense burden of responsibility and the lack of control, CEOs usually react in one of two ways:

1. They try to take control wherever they can, or

2. They retreat from the details and disappear into the land of abstraction.

The latter reaction results in the Master Strategist CEO. This kind of leader is totally disengaged in the day-to-day activities of the organization. They see the CEO’s primary value as coming up with a brilliant, gem-like strategy. How that strategy gets applied is of much less interest to them.

The Master Strategist CEO has a great antipathy toward awareness of on-the-ground execution. They figure, “If I can’t control everything, I shouldn’t worry about any of the details.” Sometimes this stems from a simple desire to…