Hands up for a mistake - who leads the CEO?
Self-leadership and personal responsibility are key skills for being a CEO.
I learned something in junior basketball that had nothing to do with throwing technique, defensive positioning or when to pass and when to pass yourself. I learned to put my hand up to signal a mistake.
Not because the coach shouted from the sidelines or the referee blew the whistle. But because that was the way it was supposed to be done. This was even more pronounced in yard games. There were no referees. There were no video reviews. There was just the game and the players. If you made a mistake, you raised your hand. The game went on. Confidence was maintained. If you didn't raise, you'd soon find yourself knocked to the pavement, twice as bad as the ordeal the guy was going through.
For some reason, this simple gesture (raising your hand to signal a mistake) has stayed with me more than many wins. Perhaps because it taught me more about responsibility than any sermon. On the other hand, it also taught mercy and forgiveness. Again, important things as part of self-management and personal accountability.
Years later, I have found myself returning to this theme again and again - especially as a CEO myself, but also when working with CEOs. Self-leadership really comes into its own when no one else is blowing the whistle.
When the leader has no judge
The higher up in the organisation you go, the quieter and less frequent the whistles become. For the CEO, too rarely does anyone stop the game and dare to speak up: “Now the game is going down the wrong track.”
On the contrary. Mistakes are disguised by the surrounding silence, and in your own mind they are turned into explanations such as urgency, strategic ambiguity or pressing operational realities. Nobody raises their hand because nobody wants to slow the game down. Certainly not the CEO, which is why it is increasingly rare for the CEO himself to raise his hand to the sky.
It is here that personal accountability distinguishes an effective leader from a reactive survivor. Practical experience and research show that sustainable leadership starts with the ability to recognise your own impact - even when it is not desired.
Taking personal responsibility is not self-promotion. It is understanding the game, taking responsibility and doing the right thing. Above all, it is about building winning habits and a winning culture.
Self-management is on the calendar
One of the most tangible mirrors of self-management is time management. The calendar doesn't lie. It shows what you really think is important - not what you say you like.
In my role as CEO, I try to follow the following two growth triangles:
1) At work - Staff, Customers and Stakeholders (Board of Directors, owners, investors, etc.),
2) At liberty - Sleep, Nutrition, Exercise.
Almost all successful CEOs strive for this use of time. Yet often these winning habits slip through the cracks of everyday life.
The Eisenhower quadrilateral explains the phenomenon of time well. It functions in four fields:
- Important and urgent - fires
- Important but not urgent - winning ways
- Urgent but not important - delegable
- Neither urgent nor important - waste of time
When there is no room for important but non-urgent matters, a spiral is created. You run after the ball instead of building a championship-winning game.
Successful CEOs understand this and if their time is not up to target, they will also put their hand up as a sign of error and say, ”I'm the one who made this possible - and that's why I have to change.”
When we learn, we succeed!
I often go back to that yard game in my mind. Sweat on my forehead, knees bleeding and the ball bouncing erratically. Someone makes a mistake. For a moment it's quiet. Then a hand goes up. And the game resumes.
Hands up! To signal an error. So that the game can go on - and eventually championships can be won.
