Over-confident and proud business owners/CEOs are likely the reason many organisations fail.
Seeking help from an external source isn’t something every business owner wants to do, but it may be necessary during troubled times to stop one’s company from going under.
Michael Fingland, managing director of Vantage Performance, stated that the sooner an organisation seeks outside help – and the more receptive they are to it – the better the chance of coming out the other end alive.
For this reason, Fingland believes that the personality of a CEO or owner is likely to play a huge role in determining its survival.
“CEO personality can be a huge factor, for better or for worse. If deluded self-belief and ego come into it, they often mess around trying to fix the problem themselves," he explained. "You hire experts to head up your sales team, operations and HR, so why do CEOs feel they can handle a crisis themselves without calling in experts who deal with this every day?”
The three vices Vantage Performance found that hold CEOs and business owners back are:
- Self-belief (73%)
- Pride and ego (68%)
- Denial and delusion (68%)
These factors often drive CEOs and owners to unrealistic conclusions, and make them hold off on getting help until it is too late. Having a more realistic view of how an organisation is going and not being afraid to get help is stressed by Fingland as crucial to survival.
As a ‘less than stellar Christmas’ approaches, it is recommended that struggling organisations make sure to seek help early, communicate clearly with staff and shareholders, and make the hard decisions when necessary.
