What characteristics do the CEOs best prepared to face the current and future context share?
I would like to discuss some elements that I have observed in my experience working and speaking with dozens of CEOs from different regions, contrasted with the public profile of CEOs from some of the world's leading companies.
One size does not fit all
Leadership adapted to the type of company and the stage it is in is required. For example, a start-up in its early years will require a CEO-Founder capable of finding market fit to justify the existence of the company and its product. However, the CEO of a bank seeking to be acquired will need to be able to collaborate with investment banks and potential buyers to negotiate and carry out a successful transaction.
Two elements that make a difference
There are two common and distinctive elements that characterize a powerful modern CEO, and they will continue to be significantly accentuated: 1. Leading the vision and execution of their value propositions or products and 2. Being able to define, convene, and lead an ecosystem around a mobilizing purpose, beyond money. In other words, transitioning from being a "mercenary" to a "missionary."
In this article, I focus on the first point.
Value propositions: Short-lived, like robins
Value propositions, or "products" (in the sense used in digital businesses) that compose them, are increasingly intertwined with the technology that enables them, shortening their lifecycles. For example, microchips double their capacity every two years, pushing the technology sector, and by extension, multiple other sectors into a logic of constant reinvention and disruption. If we add to this the post-pandemic situation, macroeconomic and geopolitical instability, and the rapid change in people's preferences, we are in a context of even greater transformation than in the past decade (2010s), when it became customary to describe the situation of almost any industry as VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous).
In this environment, if we were to compare the longevity of a company's products with a phenomenon in nature, we could think of animals and their different lifespans. Then, it's like products transition from long lives like horses to a short life like that of a robin, lasting only a year.
The product roadmap: The protagonist of the strategic agenda
Then, the company's strategy increasingly depends on the relevance and validity of the product portfolio in this changing context.
Fewer and fewer companies will be successful solely by focusing on commercial, operational, and/or financial excellence to grow and make the business profitable. It is the product portfolio and its constant renewal and reinvention - translated into a roadmap - that takes center stage in the strategy. Conceptual and "high-level" strategies, far from determining what will be put into the hands of customers, are no longer sufficient.
As illustrated by Jeff Bezos in a famous "All-hands" meeting where he wrote Amazon's strategy on a napkin (still valid today), to quickly move on to working with his team to translate it into reality with products.
The CEO: A rider of digital robins
Then, it is the CEO as the leader of the strategy who must be closer than ever and own the product roadmap and its agile evolution to adapt to new technologies and customer needs. Ensuring the coherence of this portfolio with the business model.
As a CEO, you are "riding" your value proposition, and your life depends on it. Now that it's a robin, you only have 1 year to reinvent it or look for the next ride. Would you delegate this to someone else?
Of course, sales models, finances, etc., will still matter. But this roadmap takes on more and more prominence. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Ray Dalio, some of the most prominent CEOs in recent history, have distinguished themselves by spending a lot of time dedicated to the product, reviewing ideas, and even screens in detail (or financial models in Dalio's case). Musk's case with Twitter has been very visible, where he has taken a clear and strong position from day one on how Twitter should evolve disruptively (subscription, free speech-not reach, better searches, long videos, etc).
The courage, empathy, and agility of the visionary
A visionary product CEO must be brave, creative, capable of connecting with the emotions and needs of their customers, deeply understanding the product and the supporting technology, and fostering agility to experiment with different propositions with their customers and continuously improve them.
It is precisely with leaders like these that we work best at Raven, leaders who dare to question the Status Quo, and who understand that there is no better way to do it than by starting with the customer. And in this uncertain context, they have the courage to outline and believe in an imperfect and continuously evolving product vision. They know that their company depends on it, and they decide to be the protagonists and riders of the next disruption flight.
