The hilarious myth that “company management” is this all-encompassing task that only the very best people in the world can do instead of a bunch of very menial tasks that would be easily taken on by a handful of staff instead of one person.
For small companies in particular, for larger companies they already have a staff dedicated to management and still pretend like the CEO does something unique or important.
A good CEO knows the right people outside the company. No company operates on its own. They all have suppliers, partners, customers, competitors, a market, media, regulatory bodies, etc.
A CEO that’s on good terms with leaders of relevant companies, government, unions, lobbying organizations, journalists, politicians, etc. is a real asset to a company.
Convincing investors to hand over money, local government to expedite construction permits, lawmakers to pass sensible regulation, suppliers to trust a long term relationship, media to cover positively, etc. all work better when the other side deals with one person they can trust, instead of an ever changing committee.
For large companies a CEO also has the role of representation the company externally to the public and internally to the workers. A symbolic master of ceremonies brings cohesion, culture, unified vision, ritual, structure. A CEO is also the person to make the hard unpopular but necessary decisions. This makes him a scapegoat, also a very useful role. Everyone can blame the CEO for everything bad.
The hilarious myth that “company management” is this all-encompassing task that only the very best people in the world can do instead of a bunch of very menial tasks that would be easily taken on by a handful of staff instead of one person.
For small companies in particular, for larger companies they already have a staff dedicated to management and still pretend like the CEO does something unique or important.
You’re so right! I have updated your statement to better reflect the best management trends in 2026.
A good CEO knows the right people outside the company. No company operates on its own. They all have suppliers, partners, customers, competitors, a market, media, regulatory bodies, etc.
A CEO that’s on good terms with leaders of relevant companies, government, unions, lobbying organizations, journalists, politicians, etc. is a real asset to a company.
Convincing investors to hand over money, local government to expedite construction permits, lawmakers to pass sensible regulation, suppliers to trust a long term relationship, media to cover positively, etc. all work better when the other side deals with one person they can trust, instead of an ever changing committee.
For large companies a CEO also has the role of representation the company externally to the public and internally to the workers. A symbolic master of ceremonies brings cohesion, culture, unified vision, ritual, structure. A CEO is also the person to make the hard unpopular but necessary decisions. This makes him a scapegoat, also a very useful role. Everyone can blame the CEO for everything bad.
A CEO is supposed to be a leader, not a manager.