If the life of a CEO was always hectic, it is showing now signs of stagnating. In fact, each year as BCG’s “Index of Complicatedness” shows, complexity at corporates is increasing by seven percent for the past fifty years. This has resulted in CEOs having little to no downtime. Numerous studies have confirmed that reflection leads to improved extraction of business insights from various sources on aspects as diverse as innovation, execution and corporate strategy. While critical thinking aims to solve problems, reflective tries to absorb knowledge and examine accepted beliefs. For CEOs, both kinds of thinking are necessary. As per a report submitted by the Harvard Business Review, today an average CEO spends three-fifths of time on meetings, another fourth on public events or over the phone, leaving barely fifteen percent for other aspects including travel, reading, email and of course, the little bit of reflection. In order to ensure that the CEO receives some downtime for self-reflection, three rules have been put aside. First of all, a structure and schedule need to be prepared with specific time set for reflection. Then, a trusted dialogue [partner needs to be identified with whom such heart-to-heart discussion may take place. These dialogue partners will eventually need to get around with some catalytic conversations with the said CEO from which reflective though may emanate.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/leadership-talent-people-organization-rewards-ceo-reflection.aspx?linkId=45688955&linkId=46179323

Uploaded Date:19 January 2018