What does a CEO do? by Ty Wapato

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Posted on March 30, 2021 by Ty Wapato

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CEO means Chief Executive Officer. There is a bit to unpack in the title. An officer is someone in a company who is responsible for its day to day management and operation. An executive devises policies and strategies to meet company goals. Chief means the highest ranking executive who has the most authority—and the most responsibility for the success of the company.

The CEO is usually the highest paid member of the company, but not always. We’ll get back to that a little later, but for now let’s just say the CEO gets the biggest paycheck.

In effect the CEO only has one responsibility. Only one duty. That is to make the company as profitable as possible. CEO.s are supervised by the company’s directors. In a corporation that is a board consisting of people that are knowledgeable in the manufacture of the company’s products or are knowledgeable in management practices.

The Board of Directors and the CEO may have different definitions of the phrase, “as profitable as possible.” The Board’s definition is the one that will rule.

Sometimes in a smaller company a star salesperson can make more money than the CEO because a salesperson of that caliber is going to demand that her/his pay be directly related to performance. Really good salespeople may negotiate compensation consisting entirely of commissions. That gives them full control over how much they earn.

In most companies the CEO is the best salesperson in the company, having had to sell him/herself to superiors all the way up the corporate ladder, and having to continually sell the board of directors in order to keep the job.

The home-based CEO is probably all those people. Except maybe the board of directors which probably includes the spouse.

The responsibilities include all the planning, the policies, the strategies, the financing, the marketing, and the selling. Most people hate the selling even though it is the most imperative of all the functions.

The CEO mind recognizes that the planning, the policies, the strategies, the financing, and the marketing work together to make the selling easier. In fact when they are done well the sales sometimes seem to happen spontaneously.

Being fully prepared for the work makes the work easier. Think of it like driving a car. You always look as far down the road as possible so you can see any problems soon enough to avoid a crash. When the road curves you look around the curve as far as you can because that helps keep you centered in your lane.

Do the same in your business. Look ahead. Spot the obstacles. Do what’s necessary before you get there. It might seem like a slower way of working but it gets you there faster.

“If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe.”