There are those who say that hindsight is a wonderful thing. And then there is a small but growing school of people who believe that foresight is even better ^[1].

Mr Chuck Prince, the former CEO of the Citi Bank would appear to be a recent convert to this school, when he recently made the following statement to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (http://fcic.gov):

"I can only say that I am deeply sorry that our management – starting with me – was not more prescient and that we did not foresee what lay before us…"

On the other hand, Mr Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, was recently expressing his views on shareholder value as being a misguided and potentially harmful goal for companies to pursue ^[2]. While Mr Jack Welch (ex CEO of General Electric) has also raised his doubts about the merits of focusing on shareholder value versus customer value, by revoking his holy-grail for:

"... on the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world."

Quite what assessment Mr Warren Buffett (who appears to be a natural Foresight Leader^™) would make of the above statements would be difficult to guess. However, what is becoming clear is that a new breed of business CEOs is now urgently needed.

Just as the merits of good foresight are becoming more evident to many of the business leaders, new paradigms are beginning to emerge around customer and shareholder value.

The apparent disparity above in the general terminology and focus also indicates that in many corporate organisations the strategic signal is still weaker than the day-to-day noise. The senior management team still face difficulty in deciding which management philosophy to pursue. This is something akin to an identity crisis. Ultimately, it raises some important questions about the remit, mandate and purpose of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), and how they should be leading their organisations.

Many of us find the term CEO itself ambiguous – as it bears very little reflection on the role, remit or responsibility of the person. Therefore, a more appropriate and relevant approach would be to adopt the term Chief Enterprise Officer (CEnO), instead.

This new definition would bypass the above sentiments and semantics, and help to clarify the role and purpose of a business leader in such a position. It would also emphasise the enterprising aspect and the following key characteristics associated with such a role:

• One that underscores bold endeavours, coupled with the creation of long-term intrinsic value to achieve an optimal level of shareholder return on investment;
• Timely attainment of customer and product/service excellence and cost-effective operational initiatives; and
• A prerequisite level of people, innovating and entrepreneurial skills to sustain the enterprise. The latter would also give leverage to responsible risk-taking.

Just as the old management mantra that ‘the sole purpose of a business is to make money’ has now been superseded by a new mantra, which asserts that ‘the purpose of a business is to make money, responsibly’ †, we are at the dawn of a new age of senior managers and business leaders.

And whilst 'one swallow does not make a summer', one small innovation can sometimes mean a giant leap for a business (e.g. Apple iPod). Therefore, organisations should evaluate the merits of having CEnOs instead of CEOs in order to attain better focus and develop a new breed of enterprise leaders.

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[1] Foresight Key to Top Leadership - What leadership consultants won't tell you.
[2] Financial Times report, 8th April 2010.

† Responsibility in a broader and deeper context than a corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy.

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