The CEO’s essential checklist: Questions every chief executive should be able to answer

Direction-setting checklist: Be bold

1. Vision: Do we have a clear and compelling vision that reframes what winning looks like, and is it owned by the whole enterprise?
2. Strategy: Have we created a short list of clearly defined big moves at the enterprise level that will distance us from our competitors?
3. Resource allocation: Are we ‘thinking like an outsider’ to actively reallocate resources (such as dollars, people, and management attention) to our highest priorities, even when it’s hard to do?

Organizational-alignment checklist: Treat the soft stuff as the hard stuff

4. Culture: Are we targeting and systematically pursuing specific areas of cultural change to further execute our strategy?
5. Organizational design: Is our organization characterized by a balance of stability and agility that maximizes the speed and effectiveness of execution?
6. Talent: Are the most value-creating roles in our organization filled with the right talent, and do they have a strong leadership pipeline?

Leadership mobilization checklist: Solve for the team’s psychology

7. Team composition: Is my senior team the right size, comprising people with complementary skills and characterized by an ‘enterprise first’ mindset?
8. Teamwork: Does my senior team effectively use data and dialogue to make timely decisions on topics that only they can take on?
9. Operating rhythm: Does my senior team have an effective annual operating rhythm and business review cadence that drives execution and minimizes surprises?

Board engagement checklist: Help directors help the business

10. Relationships: Have I built trust with my board members by being ‘radically transparent’ and showing an interest in their views?
11. Capabilities: Do we have the right profiles on the board, and are we sufficiently educating directors and pulling them in to help where they can?
12. Board meetings: Are board sessions well prepped, effectively run, and focused on the future (going well beyond fiduciary topics)?

External-stakeholder-connection checklist: Start with ‘Why?’

13. Purpose: Are we clear on the holistic impact we aspire to (our ‘why?’), and have we embedded that into the core of how we run our business?
14. Interactions: Do we fully understand our stakeholders’ needs (their ‘why?’) and find constructive common ground with them?
15. Moments of truth: Have we built resilience ahead of any potential crises so that we’ll be able to mitigate their impact and use them to unlock opportunities?

Personal-effectiveness checklist: Do what only you can do

16. Time and energy: Do I manage my time and energy well, and do I have the right office support in place to help me successfully and sustainably do what only I can do as the CEO?
17. Leadership model: Am I leading in a way that is authentic to my convictions and values while also adjusting my behaviors to what the organization needs?
18. Perspective: Do I approach my position with humility, focusing on helping others to succeed and continually improving my ability to do so?

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