5 Things That Need to be on Every CEO’s Role Scorecard

Everyone in your company needs a role scorecard, even the CEO. Here are five things that every CEO needs to be measured on.

As a strategic leadership coach, I spend the majority of my days running strategy and planning sessions and coaching executives on performance and leadership skills. Every leadership team I work with has a focus on commitment and accountability. It’s the lifeblood of high-performing teams.

One of the key tools I use to create clarity around performance management is the role scorecard. I keep it simple and focus on the 8-12 key activities and results that each role in the company needs to execute well on to be successful. This applied to everyone. Even the CEO.

While there are many things that need to go on a CEO’s role scorecard, here are the five I generally make sure are on the scorecard of every CEO I coach.

1. Leadership team performance

The first thing I focus on with CEOs is the design and effectiveness of their leadership team. If they haven’t surrounded themselves with the right people doing the right things, the company won’t get very far. CEOs need to make sure they have crafted the proper set of roles with clear performance criteria. The right design and role details will be a function of the business strategy and the nature of the CEO and their strengths and weaknesses, so this will be unique for each situation.

The way that I put this on the CEO’s role scorecard is to average the role scorecard performance for their team. This requires them to make sure they have a clear role scorecard for each of their leadership team members with clear success criteria. The CEO is then scored on how well their team is doing. Generally, I give the CEO a green if 80% of their team is generally green on their scorecards and they have no reds on the team (individuals who are really struggling to perform).

2. Strategic planning effectiveness

One of the primary jobs of every CEO is to drive the strategic planning process and ensure that the company has defined an effective differentiated strategy and communicated across the company. A good strategy is key to business growth and success, and nobody is better positioned to do this than the CEO.

Generally, I focus on three things. One is making sure there is a strategic planning process in place that is being followed consistently. This includes the right set of meeting rhythms and planning documents and data sets.

Second is making sure that the strategy is implemented across the company. Here I’m looking for evidence that the strategic priorities are driving team and individual quarterly priorities and that operational decisions are considering and responding to strategic decisions.

Finally, I’m looking for market effectiveness. Basically, does the company have a well-differentiated position in the market that allows them to sell effectively and price their products/services at a premium level.

3. Talent development

Finding and retaining talent is crucial to every business, but doubly so for a company in growth mode. If you can’t identify talent needs quickly, find good candidates, hire quickly, onboard effectively, and develop and retain your people, you’ll struggle and likely not get very far.

As CEO, you should be on the lookout for senior talent that you need now or in the future. Develop relationships and connections that you can nurture over time. When you meet someone you think is a good cultural fit and has the skills/experience you’ll need in the future, make a note and maintain a relationship with that person.

4. Financial management

Managing cash and deploying capital effectively are the two key financial responsibilities of the CEO. Even if you have a strong financial lead on your leadership team, you need to know these two things intimately. Take your eye off this ball, and bad things will happen.

Managing cash is managing your business's oxygen. Without it, you’ll die a quick and painful death. Make sure you know what your operating cash requirements are and have a good handle on incoming revenues and any accounts receivable issues.

Deploying capital is your second key financial priority. Knowing where you’re spending your limited resources and making sure you’re investing in the right areas of the business can be the difference between making the Inc 500 list several years in a row and burning through your hard-earned profits with nothing to show for it.

5. Company culture

Finally, every CEO needs to be driving company culture. This doesn’t mean you need to get into the dunk tank at your next company retreat, but you do need to have systems in place for measuring culture and reinforcing core values and standards.

One of the best things to do is catch people doing the right thing and publicly acknowledge them. Be specific and clear. A strong culture will attract the right employees and clients while also repelling the wrong employees and clients.

While there are many other things I will put on role scorecards for CEOs, these go on just about every single one. Not having these on a scorecard means that those less skilled and more poorly positioned will have to focus on them instead, or worse: nobody is doing them, which will lead to problems quickly and with far-reaching consequences.

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