Today’s CEO is challenged in a way that no CEOs were challenged before.  Technology is changing and too fast for even the CIO of an organization to keep up with, let alone the CEO.  Yet those critical decisions of company direction, how and where to grow the business, and what new technology to incorporate ultimately falls in the lap of the CEO.



How does one person do it?  The right answer is, they don’t.  It’s critical for the CEO to be surrounded by the right people to help him make good decisions for the company.  Just like an employee has to answer to their manager or management team, likewise the CEO is subject to the guidance, oversight, and decision-making of his board of directors.  Everyone is accountable to someone.



Making tough decisions



The CEO must make sound decisions on what new market niches to attack.  He’ll look to his marketing team and expect the right decisions will be made based on their analysis of the industry, but ultimately he’s responsible.



The CEO must make sound technology decisions.  He’ll look to the CIO or IT Director for their input on what direction to take, what technology to acquire, who to partner with, etc., but ultimately it’s his decision and the target is on his head.



When working with clients, the CEO will look to the project management office (PMO) and specifically the PMO Director on good direction for how to manage projects, what software to use such as Seavus’ Project Planner and Project Viewer or similar technology.  He’ll expect that the PMO Director is overseeing the full portfolio of projects and that competent project managers are in place to provide that customer-facing client management relationship.  But, again, ultimately it’s the CEOs responsibility to manage the business.  And if things go south on projects, he’ll get calls – especially from the most prominent and high dollar customers.



So, how does the CEO get guidance?  He’s not Superman, right?  He needs to reach out just like project managers have their PMO and PMI chapters to network with.  Just like CIOs and marketing VPs have their networking groups.  How does the CEO network?



Some options



CEOs, take heed.  In order to network with other CEOs and share knowledge, guidance, issues, concerns, frustrations and success stories, today’s CEO has a few options.  They may consider joining a CEO network and swapping ideas with other presidents on topics ranging from how to deal with employee issues to the best way to grow your business in today’s rapidly evolving world of technology.



One option is CEOnetworking … they hold actual meetings and profess to provide “The ability to meet with a group of CEO peers to discuss tough issues and new approaches to problems….”  Another option is connecting with like-minded professionals, presidents, and C-level executives on LinkedIn.  With LinkedIn, the CEO can specifically join groups that will allow for discussions, news and interactions with similar professionals facing similar issues.  These are only two suggestions – there are many more options out there for the overworked and frustrated CEOs of the world.