Harvard Business Review analyzed that “the intensity of the job, coupled with the scarcity of peers to confide in, creates potentially dangerous feelings of isolation among chief executives.” The “danger” is that isolation may result in poor decision-making, because without asking for input from other C-suite companions they are losing perspective on important issues where outside information is most needed. And in health care, this is definitely one of those times when we need many perspectives.

The executive chairman of HP, Ray Lane blames former HP CEO Leo Apotheker’s sense of unreal financial projections and botched communications” with senior management and Wall Street. Both were isolated from reality. In today’s era, where there are high-stakes, CEOs cannot afford to have doubts and anxieties because that can impact the entire organization. Therefore, acknowledge your feelings and work towards defeating them.

Finding a peer group with whom CEOs can discuss your situation can help. Discuss the problems with somebody who will provide you with honest feedback and can keep it confidential – it can be even your spouse or your best friend! You should learn to accept the feedback. Try to reach out to those talented team members and a support team. It will reduce feelings of isolation and give you the confidence to “go ahead” while tackling the obstacles to your organizations’ success.

In a leadership role, it is important to connect. CEOs should connect with their employees without getting too tight; it’s a fine balance between water cooler chatter and doing shots at a company event. You do not want to seem distant and disconnected, but you have to keep control, almost exactly like being a parent.

If you can manage to get the right people in place, however, your job is more like that of a professional football coach. You have players that know what they’re doing. Each knows her role and each excels. The trick, of course, is getting the right management team together.

Here are just a couple of examples that you may have a 7^th-grader on your team instead of a fullback:

• He’s just not there.

Now, we’re not speaking metaphorically of the person who’s daydreaming during your inspirational leadership team meeting. We’re talking about the guy who simply isn’t there. Take, for example, the CFO of one Midwestern energy company. The company encouraged telecommuting for executives, with weekly on-site briefings.

This particular CFO decided he’d rather telecommute from a beach in the Bahamas. This worked out well enough for about six weeks until his Internet connection went down for five days in a row. When the tech support staff arrived at the CFO’s house, she was surprised to find the CFO’s 19 year-old nephew – housesitting.

You don’t need to put ankle bracelets on your people, but you do need them to be upfront about the work they’re doing in your absence.

• She’s a liar who wants your job.

Politicking and backstabbing are all too common in the corporate world. Some executives try to amass power, bringing more and more of the company under their thumbs. Others set out to unseat the CEO.

The CIO of a steel manufacturing company in Pittsburg found out the hard way that it’s easier to simply defend your turf than it is to go after the head honcho. After approaching another executive with a plan to enwrap the CEO in a false scandal, her world began to unravel instead. The other executive began to do a little bit of investigating and discovered that the CIO faked her MBA from Columbia, lied about her previous position at a tech firm (she claimed to be the IT director, but was actually a help desk staffer) and even had a criminal record – for extortion.

There are a couple of lessons here: always do your due diligence when assembling your team, and make sure the majority of your team feels enough loyalty to help shield you from these kinds of messes.

• You only ever hear “yes.”

This scenario is all too common, and it’s one we’ve seen a thousand times. Many CEOs find themselves surrounded by sycophantic subordinates more concerned with their own position in the company than the well-being of the company.

Let’s be honest: sometimes, you have blind spots. Not all of your ideas are winners. You need management team members that are willing to call you out when you’re off track. Great leaders aren’t great leaders simply because they’re brilliant; they’re great leaders because they have a leadership team that puts the company’s interests first.

To avoid this kind of scenario learn to accept and analyze constructive criticism from your management team. In some cases, that kind of creative thinking should even be awarded.

Food for thought

Your executive team is the nervous system of your organization. If it’s failing at any point it can cripple your company. It’s better to separate the wheat from the chaff before it ever gets to that point.

Knowing it and doing it right are two different things, however. Here are some ways, based on real-life stories, you should avoid trying to connect with the average folk at your company:

1. Inappropriate gifts. Once CEO we know gave a set of cufflinks to each assembly line employee on the anniversary of their hire date. While some surely put them to use, most – especially the women – probably wound up tossing them in a drawer. In the words of one employee, the gift was “hoity-toity.”
2. Mandatory lunch. Now, we’re not talking about having a company-wide meal; those can certainly boost morale. We’re talking about eating in the employee break room or lunchroom and insisting that others do the same. For one CEO, this led to some very awkward moments and uncomfortable silences. The employees felt like they were being watched, rather than reached out to.
3. Group pressure cookers. As the CEO of a chemical company, one man felt it was his duty to try to keep up on some of the scientific advancements in the field. So, he arranged for a group of his top chemists to attend a regional conference. Rather than simply allow everyone to get to the destination on their own and pay travel expenses, this CEO decided to rent a 15-passenger van and drive to the conference. The chemists, not known for being especially outgoing, sat quiet for most of the four-hour trip. The oblivious CEO talked at length about his vision for the company, his management style and even his pet Terrier. Needless to say, the chemists were greatly relieved when they reached the hotel.
4. Employee dating service. This one is just weird. Tech companies are sometimes known for offering perks like elaborate break rooms and free vending machine privileges. The CEO of one tech company, however, decided her (primarily male) employees needed to get out and meet some women in a speed-dating format. It might not have been quite as awkward if she hadn’t placed herself in the speed-dating rotation.
5. Too close for comfort. As a CEO you want to connect with your folks, but you also need a relative distance to maintain authority. One particular CEO made it his business to invite himself to every employee’s wedding, birthday parties, and even children’s christenings. You can see from the photos that the CEO is just trying too hard to fit in.

Get out there and connect with your people, but do it smart. Run your creative ideas by your management team, too, before you wind up being #6 on this list.

Here are the critical steps you need to follow to make the termination as seamless as possible for your business and to protect yourself from future liability.

Prepare, prepare, prepare….

“Groundwork prior to termination is extremely important to mitigate any adverse effect” – thus preparation is the key when firing someone, and careful planning can limit misunderstandings, anger and recrimination. This includes having all your documentation prepared up front, including a letter outlining the terms of the termination. Make a detailed mental note of all the circumstances that led to the termination decision – get over the guilt, think “ let me endure the pain now to enjoy the benefits later”.

Set up a place, date, and time….

While firing an employee over email or phone is always tempting, the most professional way to do so is always face-to-face. Set up a quite and confidential meeting place in advance – regarding the location, use your best judgment. You might suggest a conference room where you can easily walk out once you’re done; or if you think it might get ugly, you can hold it at a neutral location, such as a Starbucks, as people are much less likely to cause a scene in a public setting.  There is a never a good time to tell people “you’re fired”, – but don’t wait till Friday evening to convey the decision. According to Pamela Holland, “Monday gives them an opportunity to regroup and start networking,” Lunch hour may be better for cutting ties as the office is relatively empty, which provides the fired employee an opportunity to clean out his/her desk in private. It is highly advised to consult the office calendar to avoid any embarrassing situation. Have you heard of the employee who got fired on the “Take Our Daughters To Work Day” and the security escorted both the man and his 8-year-old daughter out of the door?

Pull the trigger….

Though a lot of time is spent in planning and preparing, firing someone typically only takes a few minutes. Harsh it may sound, be specific while using the words “terminate” or “let you go”. Once an employer mentioned, “I need to move you out”, only to the effect that the employee walked out thinking of being transferred to another division. You can start by saying “this isn’t going to be easy to hear..”, but make sure to keep in simple and stick to the facts. Never allow emotion to get the best of you while defining the terms of the dismissal. Be professional, honest and direct; avoid a laundry list of employee’s personal faults. Limit explanations and discussion about the termination, and don’t apologize for taking this action. Make sure to tell them when their departure is effective.

The way you deliver the news can determine the employee’s reaction—as mentioned by a lawyer, – “How the decision is communicated—doing it respectfully and preserving the employee’s dignity—can make a difference.” In case of any anger or hostility, don’t get into any argument. You have the power to terminate, and the decision has already been take, just end the conversation by simply stating “I will not argue with you. “Close the conversation by giving the worker credit for the effort he/she has put forward.  Depending on the situation, you may also want to show support by offering to be a reference. Stand up, wish the person well, and shake hands.

Let the rest of the team know….

Inform other workers about the termination right away. Keep in brief and don’t get into big discussions with fellow workers, avoid details of why he was fired. Bring your team together that week to discuss how to handle the departed employee’s workflow, and map out your plan to fill the vacancy.

Though an unpleasant reality and not a very rewarding experience, letting employees go is often a necessity of business. And no matter how many times you have do it, you will never get used to it. So, do everything in your power to handle the situation in the most professional manner.

I was reading an article on ideas for CEOs to relax and unwind and realized that there is a common perception that CEOs need to de-stress via pursuits such as golf, yachting, sailing and sports cars – these have been favorite pastimes of CEOs since we’ve had CEOs. As the thinking goes, they need to explore these activities because of the demands of the job.

My question is do they really need these activities more than the average Joe? Of course, almost anyone would like to lie on a beach in the Caribbean, play a round of golf on Pebble beach or go snorkeling in Maui. The question is, does the role of the CEO require more and elaborate down time?

Although a CEO’s role has a high level of expectations from employees, investors and other stakeholders, I believe that the expectation is actually a positive driver to the psyche of the CEO. It plays to their self worth and not least ego. What I’m saying is that CEOs often enjoy the responsibilities and challenges of the role. Whilst this role may seem highly pressurized from the outside looking in, that is what CEOs relish, that’s where they thrive.

Most CEOs do not need to work for financial compensation and even if they do, they do not need that particular role. They do it because they like the mental and personal challenges that accompany it. It’s more stressful to take orders from others.

Yes, a CEO, according to Forbes magazine works on an average 59 hours a week, but that’s their choice. Studies have shown that if the average person is less than 80% underutilized, that’s stressful – there’s too much time on their hands, which leads to boredom and potentially other issues such as depression. Whereas, being over 110% utilized can also lead to stress and burn out. But the fact is, what’s 100% utilization of an average individual can be 80% utilization to a CEO.

So yes, they are working harder, because they can. I’m not saying don’t have fun and unwind, de-stress or whatever. Take the vacation because you want to take it. It’s not because of your role, it’s the best job in the world and you make all the calls.

Ego: Ego gone wild is one step worse. The business world has far too much arrogance and the CEOs hate when they smell the bravado walking into certain meetings. As a public company CEO, you see those egos every time you meet with investors who think they know your business better than you.

Business-Books: While the best business book typically has one great idea, the CEOs have many. The content of the business book can be gleaned from the cover and jacket. Have you heard of the CEO who once just wanted to buy the outline of a B-book to see if anything is good in it? Originality is all that matters, not the verbiage from cover to cover.

Meetings: According to a research study, entrepreneurs consider more than two-thirds of the meetings to be failures. Once a CEO commented – “I spend 20% of my time at work working, the rest is wasted in meetings”.

Hierarchy:  Bureaucracy is often synonymous with inefficiency of several layers of managers and bosses and CEOs hate inefficiency. As one CEO once said “What is the need of hierarchy? What’s the point? Control? Yuck. Get rid of hierarchy and you lose the sycophancy as well.” Better CEOs opt for a business model that lives on creative, independent, self-sufficient and responsible people.

Money: Sounds Contradictory, but absolutely true! If it weren’t for all the money involved, business would have been a lot more fun. Given the quarterly nature of financial reporting building, a business takes a back seat to earnings. This is one of the reasons why companies like Facebook took so long to go public.

Travel: Even in the era of technological advancement, if is often important to look someone in the eyes and build a relationship. Thus, though CEOs hate travelling to the core, they can’t avoid it! Did you hear of the CEO on the plane who spent so long on flights that he forgot if he was flying to a meeting or returning home and had to ask the stewardess in which direction they were flying?

Routine: CEOs love flexibility and hate routines like eight-hour workday. ‘Any time, any place’ makes a business thrive and work more enjoyable. If CEOs weren’t enjoying the time they spent at work, it would not have been possible to put in the hours they need to put in. Have you not heard of the CEO who goes home when things aren’t going well?  Once a CEO told, “Sick, tired, bored…just go home. Come back when you are ready to enjoy work and if you don’t, quit — life is too short and work really is fun.”

CEOs have to look beyond today and tomorrow to determine the resources, strategies and innovations that are needed to take the organization to a place of unknown. And in this journey, they have their moments of frustration with the business world. What’s your most annoying experience as a CEO?

A closely knit group of 11 friends who graduated from Harvard Business School in 1949 cut a wide swath through the post-World War II economy. Including luminaries like Johnson & Johnson CEO Jim Burke and Xerox CEO Peter McColough, they celebrated, compared notes and competed with one another throughout their successful careers.

“The Group,” as it was dubbed by the friends’ wives and girlfriends, was first thrust together by the Registrar’s office. Starting with their class, HBS has assigned students to separate sections which take courses together during the first year of the MBA program. There were seven sections in 1949. Seven members of “The Group” were in the same section, three of the remaining four were in another.

Those sections turn out to be a good way to study how peers influence executives’ behavior, says University of Chicago Booth School of Business economist Kelly Shue. The section assignment is basically random. So the thorny issue of causality – do CEOs act similarly because they hang out together or do they hang out together because they act similarly? – is taken care of.

An analysis of HBS graduates conducted by Ms. Shue suggests peer influence among CEOs and CFOs has a profound effect. Executives show a greater tendency to acquire companies if that is what the other executives from their section have been doing. And compensation patterns are more similar among executives who were in the same section than for those who were not.

Ms. Shue also found that the similarities were strongest following the staggered reunions that HBS graduates attend every five years.

Apparently hearing friends boast of big mergers and fat paychecks isn’t easy for A-type executives to take.

Some might call my approach to grammar extreme, but I prefer Lynne Truss’s more cuddly phraseology: I am a grammar “stickler.” And, like Truss — author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves — I have a “zero tolerance approach” to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid.

Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have “zero tolerance.” She thinks that people who mix up their itses “deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave,” while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job — even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.

Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a mandatory grammar test. Extenuating circumstances aside (dyslexia, English language learners, etc.), if job hopefuls can’t distinguish between “to” and “too,” their applications go into the bin.

Of course, we write for a living. iFixit.com is the world’s largest online repair manual, and Dozuki helps companies write their own technical documentation, like paperless work instructions and step-by-step user manuals. So, it makes sense that we’ve made a preemptive strike against groan-worthy grammar errors.

But grammar is relevant for all companies. Yes, language is constantly changing, but that doesn’t make grammar unimportant. Good grammar is credibility, especially on the internet. In blog posts, on Facebook statuses, in e-mails, and on company websites, your words are all you have. They are a projection of you in your physical absence. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can’t tell the difference between their, there, and they’re.

Good grammar makes good business sense — and not just when it comes to hiring writers. Writing isn’t in the official job description of most people in our office. Still, we give our grammar test to everybody, including our salespeople, our operations staff, and our programmers.

On the face of it, my zero tolerance approach to grammar errors might seem a little unfair. After all, grammar has nothing to do with job performance, or creativity, or intelligence, right?

Wrong. If it takes someone more than 20 years to notice how to properly use “it’s,” then that’s not a learning curve I’m comfortable with. So, even in this hyper-competitive market, I will pass on a great programmer who cannot write.

Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember high school English. I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing — like stocking shelves or labeling parts.

In the same vein, programmers who pay attention to how they construct written language also tend to pay a lot more attention to how they code. You see, at its core, code is prose. Great programmers are more than just code monkeys; according to Stanford programming legend Donald Knuth they are “essayists who work with traditional aesthetic and literary forms.” The point: programming should be easily understood by real human beings — not just computers.

And just like good writing and good grammar, when it comes to programming, the devil’s in the details. In fact, when it comes to my whole business, details are everything.

I hire people who care about those details. Applicants who don’t think writing is important are likely to think lots of other (important) things also aren’t important. And I guarantee that even if other companies aren’t issuing grammar tests, they pay attention to sloppy mistakes on résumés. After all, sloppy is as sloppy does.

That’s why I grammar test people who walk in the door looking for a job. Grammar is my litmus test. All applicants say they’re detail-oriented; I just make my employees prove it.

This article is written by KYLE WIENS and was published in HBR blog on July 20, 2012

While many CEOs suffer from email, iPad and Smartphone addiction, the time spent on these devices is largely related to email, scheduling and logistics. The big miss here is far too little time is spent using the web as a digital learning medium. Successful CEOs don’t delegate business intelligence, learning, and listening – they do it themselves.

Let me be clear; isolation is not synonymous with highest and best use – it’s career suicide. Delegation should not be confused with abdication, and span of control should never be confused with span of influence or awareness.  I’m not suggesting chief executives engage in hours of mindless web-surfing activity, but I am suggesting they use the Internet for personal/professional development, research and business intelligence like the rest of the world does. CEOs must wake-up to the fact the Internet just isn’t a tool for their staff.

Following are his top picks for the Top Websites for CEOs (in no particular order of preference):

The Obvious But Overlooked

1. Your Company Website: You’d be surprised how many chief executives have no idea what’s published on their own website – big mistake.  I was recently retained by a Fortune 100 company to work with their new incoming CEO, and when I enquired as to why he wasn’t listed on the company website, he sheepishly stated he’d been on board 6 months and hadn’t even checked the website. This is one of those “the buck stops here” things – if you’re the CEO, you better understand the entirety of your company’s digital footprint (public sites, sites behind the firewall, social media accounts, partner sites, etc.).

2. Your Competitor’s Websites: There are few competitive intelligence tools as effective as the online profiles of your competitors. There’s always a great temptation to delegate this activity to staff, but at a minimum, make sure you are briefed on a regular basis. However the better method is to own at least some of the homework yourself – you’ll find the knowledge acquired invaluable.

3. Your Customer’s Websites: It’s difficult to relate to your customers if you don’t know and understand them. A little time spent understanding the digital footprint of a client can lead to great conversations and big business. When customers find out you’ve invested time in getting to know their company, culture, challenges and opportunities, you’ll have escalated your relationship to a more fruitful level.

Unusual Suspects

4. Foreign Affairs: There are very few businesses of any scale who can’t afford to think globally, and there’s no better publication to inform you on international news and information than Foreign Affairs.

5. Psychology Today: One of the most thought provoking and informative magazines dealing with the human psyche. CEOs are first and foremost in the people business, and few publications will offer insights into the human condition like this one.

6. Mashable: This is where the cool kids hang out for news and information. With 20 million unique visitors and 6 million social media followers, Mashable has become one of the most engaged online news communities. It has both aggregated and original content, and multiple topical channels.

7. The Build Network: This is one of my favorite new publications/websites. With a truly unique format, the information here is short, crisp, relevant, and actionable. Well worth a visit for every CEO.

8. Twitter: This social networking site offers one of the best listening posts on the Internet. Virtually every major brand is represented on Twitter, as well as numerous thought leaders, and CEOs like Richard Branson, Michael Dell, Marissa Mayer, Thomas Geisel, Rupert Murdoch, and many more. If you think you’re too busy, or too important to be on Twitter, think again.

9. TED: Want to know what’s coming next? Visit the TED website and view videos from the world’s hottest innovators and thought leaders.

10. LinkedIn: Perhaps the world’s greatest talent engine, LinkedIn gives you virtually unfettered access to passive talent if you’re willing to pony-up for a modest subscription fee. Well worth the price.

An awful lot of planning, time and resources go into these town halls. They’re frequently big productions beamed via satellite to offices around the world. Employees take time away from their jobs to attend. Yet, incredibly, there is so much wasted opportunity.
Take a look at your speech.

• Have you spent time thinking about what’s in it for them? Do you know why you’re really giving it — aside from your Communications Director or head of HR telling you to that you’re supposed to update the troops and it’s another box you have to check off?
• Have you asked yourself: What do you want your people to feel, think and do when you are done? (If you’ve left that part to the speechwriter, don’t.)
• Have you addressed the elephant in the room? Bad press, layoffs, elimination of benefits, product recall, weak earnings, downgraded rating, takeovers, even widespread perceptions of you that might be less than flattering?

Employees are sick of pep talks that say nothing and do nothing but leave them guessing both about the state of the company and their Chief Executive. When it comes to their leaders, employees want and need a feeling of intimacy — the ability to see into them and to connect with them. They want to know who their leaders are — their background and experience and why they took this job. They want to understand their leaders’ style, their values, hot buttons, vulnerabilities, what keeps them up at night, what they plan on doing and what they expect from people. Yes, they want to be motivated and inspired but they can’t be either if you’re just a talking head.

In an era where building rapport and clear and inspiring communication is so critical, it always surprises me how many CEOs still get it wrong, like one from a bio tech company last week. In a half hour speech to his new employees, without ever referencing the company’s massive layoffs two weeks prior, the CEO asked, with a straight face, “Does anyone have any questions?”

Hint to Bio Tech CEO: The question your employees really had on their minds was: Am I next on the chopping block? Are you going to continue to cut healthcare benefits too? Is the plan you just outlined in 15 minutes really going to turn this situation around? I wonder if your proclaimed open door policy is really just that or do I have to run it up the typical chain of command? Are you another CEO who doesn’t really ever read his e-mail or anything over five sentences? And what can I do specifically to help the company thrive?

Mr. Bio Tech and others rarely think about their audiences’ emotional temperature. What are people’s thoughts and feelings as they enter the room and sit down?

Of course, it’s important to motivate your audience and tell them how delighted you are to be leading them and the company in such exciting times and how much you look forward to working together, but if you don’t bring your head and heart to the stage, then all they see is someone spewing platitudes and generalities, and not the leader they want to follow.

For one new CEO this meant explaining his trajectory on Wall Street not because he was the smartest guy in the room but because he realized early on that while he was smart, he couldn’t ever compete with the intellectual wizards coming out of Harvard or Princeton. A first generation Hispanic American from a poor Mexican family, whose parents still struggle with English, he knew the only way he could succeed, especially beyond his Ivy League counterparts, was by working harder and being more attentive to his clients’ needs than anybody else. For the last twenty years that’s what he did, and that’s what he expected from every one of his 20,000 employees who he was addressing for the first time.

For another, it meant making clear to the troops that she didn’t want just feedback, but solutions. She reminded them as well how much she appreciated hearing good news noting, “Why doesn’t anybody come and tell me about the good things that are happening? I want to hear the good as well as bad. If it’s because you fear that your colleagues will think you’re sucking up, please don’t let that stop you. I really want to hear what you have to say — the good, the bad and the ugly!” She even admitted she preferred short e-mails with thoughts distilled into a few key bullet points — a small detail that later proved immensely valuable to her team who were used to bombarding her predecessor with lengthy e-mails that more often than not were simply ignored, causing major frustration and work delays for everyone.

Communicating in a way that connects with your audience is critical not only for town hall gatherings but in every situation. Don’t be the CEO who ignores or underestimates the importance of doing so genuinely with both head and heart. Make sure that reaching out to a broad group of employees from different levels and departments doesn’t translate to dull and impersonal “one size fits all” communication. And, don’t be tempted to wing it because of the demands on your time. A successful town hall state-of-the-union speech takes significant preparation and thought on your part, so remember what many leaders learn the hard way: you’re only as good as your last speech.

This article is written by Peggy Klaus and was published in HBR Blog Network on May 3, 2012