n the second half of 2012, IBM issued its fifth biennial Global CEO Study titled Leading Through Connection. IBM says this study is based on face-to-face conversations with more than 1,700 CEOs in 64 countries. I have been reading it and want to share with you what I make of it.
Social – concerned, fearful, skeptical, uncertain?
It appears that CEOs are increasingly accustomed to volatility and expect unpredictability. The same cannot be said for social.
My reading of the study suggests that CEOs are concerned and fearful about social, in particular, its role in enabling customers to exercise power over organisations. Second, most of them are skeptical of the value of social media – I suspect in driving revenues and profits. Even those who do see value in getting into social, are uncertain as to how to go about it. Given that so few of them have dived into social media this does not surprise me. How does one get comfortable with riding a bike? By riding a bike – you get on the bike, you ride, you fall off, you pick yourself up, you get back on the bike and soon you are riding the bike. Is social any different?
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Are CEO’s customer obsessed and what is their take on customer analytics?
According to the study, CEO’s told IBM that three leadership traits, in particular, are the most critical for navigating through this disruptive era: ‘customer obsession’, ‘inspirational leadership’ and ‘leadership teaming across the C-suite’. I’ll come back to the latter two, let’s take a look at ‘customer obsession’.
When the world is unpredictable and the power continues to shift to customers it makes sense that ‘customer obsession’ is seen as the critical leadership trait. Yet I wonder what this means? Does this mean that CEOs will get out of their offices and get deeply involved with customers? Spending time with them face to face like Lou Gerstner did when he took charge of IBM. Or undertaking the kind of experience showcased in Undercover Boss.
via IBM’s CEO 2012 study: is technology really the number1 priority of CEOs? | CustomerThink.