My experiences in the last few months have caused me to reflect on the past seven (7) years in business, in comparison with my time in paid employment.

Specifically, I found myself thinking over the characteristics of senior managers and CEOs (especially of small/medium businesses) I have had to work with during those two 920 separate periods.
This exercise led to me to make a startling discovery or revelation: The most frequent cause of failure amongst this group of key business decision makers was their INEPTITUDE i.e. a total lack of skill in the very endeavour they are responsible for managing to profitability or productivity.

If you find it difficult to understand how it is possible for a CEO to be inept in the manner I have described above, be assured that you are not alone in feeling this way: I struggled with myself for a long time to BELIEVE what my eyes saw and ears heard as I worked closely with some of these people.

Believe me when I say some mothers - sorry, I mean "companies" - do 'ave them!

What would you say about the decision making competence of a CEO who pays well over N250, 000 over a 6 month period to a service provider to develop a solution for his company, but fails to ensure himself or ANY of his staff can competently put the finished solution to use to the benefit of the company?

That is just one example of how a CEO can be inept. If you owned shares in such a company, would you feel confident that your investment would be well managed to yield beneficial returns? I know I would not - and I am certain most others would feel the same way.

Now, this lack of skill or ineptitude is rarely an accident. Instead it is often the result of a lack of discipline - particularly mental discipline. To be honest, I personally consider it to be evidence of mental indolence or laziness on the part of the "guilty" CEO.

Some companies (especially startup or small/medium) fail to succeed in spite of having talented and competent hands reporting to the CEO, in addition to ready access to financing. One possible reason for this failure could be the problem of "CEO Ineptitude".

But What Are The Signs Of "CEO Ineptitude"?

Below I list nine (9) signs and symptoms a CEO will exhibit that will suggest s/he is inept.

1. Does not (or no longer wants to) know or keep track of operational details that affect the company's ability to meet its business success goals. The result is that when trends turn bad, s/he rarely notices until it's too late. The company suffers as a result.

2. Is not (and is NOT keen to become) proficient in using technology s/he pays for (such as a laptop/PC, monthly Internet access etc) to boost his/her ability to make better business decisions.

3. Will not admit it, but is terrified of thinking and/or making "tough" decisions by him or herself. For instance s/he will do almost anything to get even a visiting friend or consultant to help him decide when an unrepentant staff guilty of being repeatedly absent from work should be penalised by way of salary deduction. The business suffers for this, because other staff copy the unpunished staff PLUS diligent staff get frustrated and conclude there is no point sticking to the rules.

4. Always balks at going out and getting personally involved in making sales visits towards generating sales/marketing leads. Instead s/he spends money hiring more sales and marketing personnel than necessary, who then get pushed out to do this unwanted chore - at a higher cost to the company. The worst part however is that the RESULTS they get often never justify the wages "overhead" their presence in the company attracts. Again, the company suffers (this is especially true for a startup or small/medium enterprise)..

5. Hires and pays professional service providers or consultants to develop systems and solutions meant to help the company succeed better, BUT fails to take ownership - and USE - the delivered product, often times to the bafflement of even those s/he paid to provide it (at least those with integrity)!

6. Always pays him or herself lavishly even when the company is still struggling to generate cash flow to meet its business needs.

7. Often allows products or services to be sold to customers on credit without putting in place mechanisms for vigorous redemption of receivables. As a result the company suffers from a growing overload of "debts" owed it by customers, even as production or output is stifled by poor cash availability to finance inventory and other routine expenses. Sometimes, this forces the company into taking overdraft from banks at less than friendly interest rates. Once again, the company suffers.

8. Does not READ (articles, books, magazines) to get new ideas that s/he can apply towards developing better ways of managing the business to productivity and profitability.

9. Pays beggarly wages. Believes in hiring for as little as possible, while trying to get as much as possible out of the same hired hands they UNDER-PAY. Does not believe in employee motivation. The result is that the staff always feel under appreciated and are constantly on the lookout for what they can get and run off with. Evidence: a high staff turnover rate, which in turn prevents the company from fully entrenching any initiatives introduced by management. So, the company suffers - AGAIN!

Summary

If you know any company whose CEO or key decision maker suffers from the above aspects of ineptitude, I strongly suggest you avoid investing in it (Except of course you can do something to "correct" the observed inadequacies).

Why do I say this? Well, the fact is that you can be sure such is unlikely to display any evidence of steady progress over time. This will be mainly because of the erratic decision making output arising from inept CEO activity like those earlier enumerated. The company will therefore be more prone to negative influences of the market place and industry it operates in.

No business can operate successfully on autopilot - and that's why human beings are put in charge to actively THINK and ACT based on daily developments to steer it in the direction of greatest returns on investment.

All of these are of course my ideas. You may not agree with them - and you have every right not to. That will however not mean I am wrong, or that they are inaccurate.

It's up to you to decide whether or not to use the information provided above.

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Self-Development/Performance Enhancement Specialist