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Three Crucial CEO Responsibilities - ClearPath Coaching and Consulting

Written by Craig Anderson | May 11, 2021

Being the CEO of a company is not easy. You must take on many responsibilities to succeed, which can be difficult for some people. However, every CEO has three core responsibilities: setting the vision, clearing the path for employees to get things done, and holding people accountable. This blog post will go in-depth into these three essential responsibilities and how they will help your business grow!

Setting the Vision

CEOs are the visionaries of a company. They have to ensure that they know what is going on in their business and see where it will go for years into the future. This means mapping out short-term goals as well as long-term ones. The CEO sets the vision, leading the company forward to achieve it.

For the company to execute the vision, the CEO must effectively communicate it to employees. The CEO must be transparent with the company and keep them informed about performance and execution to work together successfully. The strong CEO makes the vision so clear that every employee understands it and sees how their role supports achieving it.

However, this doesn’t mean that the CEO has to have every answer or idea. While they own the vision, they rely on the team to add definition to it and make it come to life.

Clear the Path

Once the vision is in place, the CEO leads the team to achieve it. And a crucial part of that is clearing the path forward for the team to do the work. That means removing obstacles and barriers so people can focus on the job. It also means showing care for each person’s perspective, listening to what they need to do their best work, and helping them navigate any challenges or roadblocks.

This includes setting clear expectations, communicating goals, and ensuring that operations run smoothly across the organization. It also means knowing and sharing information so that people are empowered to make the right decisions.

A danger in any organization is teams getting locked into a “silo” mentality. The CEO looks across the broader view of the organization and helps the team see the broader landscape. Each team must understand how their work interacts with other groups. And when that happens, the way forward for all is more apparent.

Hold People Accountable

As CEO, it’s often your responsibility to let people know what they need to be doing. But you’re also responsible for holding them accountable when they don’t do that work or meet those expectations.

Accountability is an essential part of organizational culture. The effective CEO sees accountability not as a consequence but as an opportunity for improvement. They know that positive and negative feedback are the core of accountability. So they look to provide feedback as part of a larger accountability loop.

An accountability culture is vital for the CEO to maintain. And they must apply these principles equally across the company. The team is always watching and will know if you are only tough on some people or not. They will also notice when the CEO is too lenient with themselves and their team, leading to a culture of slacking off.

Regardless of your current position, the secret to success as a leader is understanding what you are accountable for. As an executive or CEO, it’s critical that you know and understand how to manage your time effectively to do all three things listed above to set you and your company up for ultimate success.

Have questions about this article? Give us a call! We would be happy to answer any questions and help get you on the path towards getting more done with less effort.