An Exceptional Executive committee is a Must for Businesses Success.
Part 1.

It often baffles to know what makes successful businesses succeed. We wonder if it is the industry, the timing, the people or a blend of all these. We go a notch higher to try and benchmark with them but at the end of the day, you realize that your values and theirs are even shared. The next question then becomes, “what then are they doing different?”
Given the fact that the strategy may not be that different, the aspect of implementation becomes the surest differentiation aspect. Perhaps, we conclude, their implementation strategy is quite different and se we borrow that too.
The results after that may not compare with theirs still. So, we agree to keep trying different angles of implementation or approach to try and see if we can catch up. We forget the crucial part of business success. The first P, the people.
Speaking of the people entails their personality, their experience, the culture, the creativity, the hard skills as well as the soft skills. People are different. People think in different ways and so is their approach to all the various issues that come their way. Now, it becomes a challenge to identify the exceptional people – team needed to make the business succeed. But why a challenge?
First, it is because the differences in us may disadvantage the business suppose the people tasked to build the teams have a bias or lack a clear understanding of the business needs as opposed to what they would think will meet their personal needs. This is to mean choosing a person one can go along with easily as opposed to the person the business needs; one who will meet the business demands.
And this is what brings the huge disparity. Some companies think in terms of how the people they hire, the resources they invest, the quests they undertake and the strategies they employ will meet their demands in terms of just getting going in their current endeavor only. This type finds it hard to becomes greatly successful.
Other companies think in terms of who the business needs to help them move from step A to step B, what type of resources are most fit for the purpose at hand, when is the opportune time to invest in a certain venture and what strategy to use for the need at hand.
Most importantly these enterprises understand why the person is the best fit for the business, why make that investment, why now is the best time, why these are the right resources to be used and finally will all these factors help them move towards achieving the mission.
Now, at the helm of making these decisions for the business is the executive committee. The executive committee comprises mostly of the CEO (Chief Executive officer), the vice presidents of the various major segments of the business management and administration, the COO (Chief Operations Officer), the CFO (Chief Financial officer), The CSO (Chief Strategy Officer), The CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), The HR (Human Resources officer), the CTO (Chief Technology Officer)/Head of Engineering Division, the CIO (Chief Innovation Officer) and other major key people. This is for big business though.
For the small business, the executive committee would entail the General Manager, Finance Officer, Human Resource Officer, Quality and Standards Officer, Operations Officer, Research and Development Officer, Sales and Marketing Officer, Customer Care Officer, ICT officer and Engineering Officer.
All these people irrespective of the business size make the driving force behind the business success. Should this team be weak or have weaklings amongst them, then the success of the business is at jeopardy. No wonder most businesses today emphasize on nothing but the best teams.
It may not necessarily mean that they must have the highest academic skill, although they must have some proper educational background, but they must be exceptionally skilled and experienced individuals. Secondly, they must be people who are forward thinking, innovative, passionate, result oriented, informed and great team players.
A strong executive committee ensures that only the best decisions are arrived at and as such taken for implementation. These are people in charge of departments and lead teams of whom they must offer the best leadership to, gain their trust and help them be the best there is.
I looked at what executive teams comprise of, for big companies such as Apple, Altos, Phillips Pharmaceuticals, Heineken, Bloomberg, Nike, Samsung and the Likes. It then clicked on my mind why these global giants are that successful. For them, they choose nothing but the best people for their executive committee.
Locally, Safaricom, Centum, Equity Bank, KCB, Cellulant among others also have build up great executive committees and is the reason behind the success they enjoy immensely in the market. The type of people at the top of the organization determine the success of that organization to a large extent.
Remember though that to build such teams takes time. There is the deep understanding of the business; its needs, its mission, its vision, its values, its core objectives and market it operates in. Once these are well defined, they then dictate the kind of people to be called upon to the think tank table to actualize it. It is but the best of people who get tasked with this and is what comprises the executive committee.
If you are building an excellent executive committee, always remember that amateurs build Apple. This will help you with metrics of deciding who is eligible for the seat at the senior management table.
Postscript: Next week we look at the Boards that offer supervisory to these exceptional executives and how they too determine the success of the business.
End.
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