According to a recent study, CEOs who successfully lead sustainable organization change are collaborative and they don't think that having sole responsibility is important.
A prerequisite for collaboration seems to be a high level of humility. Over the past couple of decades we have held up several CEOs as celebrities. However, Collins (2001) found that the CEOs of the Good to Great companies were largely unknown. In addition, he found that they had a high degree of humility.
In the U.S. we seem to hold on to this myth of the individual hero. However, the history of the country doesn't seem to support this myth. Barns were raised in the old west, airplanes were built during WWII, and creative designs at IDEO are all accomplished by collaborative teams. As the CEO of IDEO, Tim Brown notes, "The increasing complexity of products, services, and experiences has replaced the myth of the lone creative genius with the reality of the enthusiastic interdisciplinary collaborator" (Brown, 2008, p. 87).
Organization transformation is complex and the probability of success is low. Creating sustainable excellence requires a collaborative leader and a team-based approach.
Download the research report on CEO Attitudes and Motivations.
References:
Brown, T. (2008). Design thinking. Harvard Business Review, 86(6), 9.
Collins, J. (2001). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve. Harvard Business Review, 79(1), 11.
Comments for Transformational CEOs are Collaborative