When CTOs leave power on the table…

You have the option to say “no” and negotiate, don’t be a victim in the C Suite!

If you hold a job title such as:

✓ CEO
✓ CTO
✓ CPO
✓ CMO
✓ CCO
✓ CFO
✓ COO
✓ CIO
✓ CSO
✓ Managing Director
✓ Director of …
✓ Head of…
✓ VP ….
✓ Senior Director of…
✓ Senior VP…
etc.

Ask yourself:

“When someone in my (C Suite) team says they want to do something and this will impact my department negatively, do I speak up?

Do I negotiate?

Do I find arguments against it and suggest finding a solution that might work for both of us?

Or do I mope around, feeling sorry for myself and when I speak to the folk under me, I tell them:

“X made this decision so it’s something that happened TO us”? “

Being passive in C Suite meetings and then saying to the people in your department about how a peer imposed something ON you, is NOT leading!

You are leaving your power on the table!

That kind of creation of THEM vs US by a leader is the behaviour of an individual contributor (IC), of a member of staff, but not of a leader!

You might be acting as an individual contributor in a leadership position.

You likely didn’t have proper support to transition from being an individual contributor (IC) to a strategic contributor (SC) leadership role!

It’s the job of the leader to:

✓ negotiate for their department,
✓ co-create decisions with the rest of the C Suite,
✓ influence and proactively contribute to the decisions that shape the business
✓ rather than feeling like the C Suite is giving you tasks that you begrudgingly have to accomplish.

Be brave! Be proactive!

Start negotiating!

You do have the power!

What stops leaders from negotiating in the C Suite?

How do companies set people up for failure by giving them leadership roles without the support to transition from IC to SC?

Whose job is it to support someone who’s now a leader?

#reEngineeringLeadership #ceo #cto