Knowledge
Top-tier types Julian Lighton identifies three kinds of CEO – and how to recognise which one you are working for
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EOs are the architects of an organisation. They determine culture – what is praised, what is promoted and what is punished; organisation structure – who gets what roles, projects and resources; and, most importantly, how strategy and decision-making is done. Because of this, it’s extremely important to identify the type of CEO for which you’re working – or that you are – because this affects the organisation and, in turn, your leadership role within it. For leaders within an organisation, identifying how your CEO operates enables you to understand which of your abilities best complements this style, and the skills and values that will be prioritised within your role. I’ve spent more than 20 years working as a chief strategy officer (CSO) for some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, including Cisco, Hitachi and TiVo. I’ve worked with a lot of CEOs and believe most fall within three distinct categories. Types of CEO Broadly speaking, the three categories are:
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The iconoclasts These are the Mark Zuckerbergs, Sam Altmans and Elon Musks of the world – founders, and very egocentric. The company and its success are their identity. They want to change the world and are prepared to break eggs to do so. It’s all about them, their view of the universe and their ability to act in an agentic way. This type of CEO believes they have tremendous agency to change industries. They can be very charismatic, but this goes hand in hand with being intolerant, demanding and having a hands-on, direct approach to management. They want very talented leaders who will follow their vision and who are more individual and less team-focused. If they want to do something, they want to do
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it tomorrow, which can have consequences for their management teams and for boards, as well as general company culture. Iconoclast CEOs can be found in high concentration in media and technology, as well as financial services, so Silicon Valley is their natural habitat.
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The competitives The second type, which is by far the most popular in my experience, is the competitive CEO. These folks define themselves by winning. They just want to be number one and they don’t care how they do it – it’s all about beating the competition and being top of the hill. Think John Chambers (Cisco), Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Marc Benioff (Salesforce). While iconoclasts are often internally and product-focused, competitives are much more external market and customer-focused. They want highly competent people around them, especially strong positional players, which also makes them very team-focused. They prioritise growth, so you’ll often see them working in scale organisations.
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The defensives Defensive CEOs want harmony, continuity, peace, order and stability. They are risk averse. They don’t want to rock the boat, they don’t want to get fired, they just want everything to be as it is. You tend to find them in businesses that are walled gardens – utilities, highly regulated industries such as healthcare, industries that have a lot of protective barriers, such as education, or those that are very slow moving. Defensive CEOs have typically been in the company for a long time and been promoted from within. They have very tight bonds and relationships with colleagues, and dislike disruptors or stars that make others look bad. How the CEO type affects an organisation An organisation’s purpose, vision and mission will be radically different in the three models outlined above. This in turn affects who’s hired, who’s fired and who’s promoted. An iconoclast CEO wants builders. A competitive CEO wants operationally efficient and effective employees. A defensive CEO wants people who are very organised and reliable. When it comes to their senior executives,
“Identifying how your CEO operates enables you to understand which of your abilities best complements this style, and the skills and values that will be prioritised within your role”