Conceding that Procter & Gamble Company's own corporate culture had been far too introverted, Chief Executive A.G. Lafley argues in the May issue of Harvard Business Review why a chief executive must remain focused on factors outside the company.
The CEO is the only one qualified for determining which customers, businesses and results are most important, setting realistic short and long term growth goals and keeping company standards relevant to the outside world.
Most people misunderstand the role of the corporate chief, Mr. Lafley says. "Conventional wisdom suggests that the CEO is primarily a coach and a utility infielder, dropping in to solve problems where they crop up," he writes, referencing his close confidant, the deceased management guru Peter Drucker. "In fact, however, the CEO has a very specific job that only he or she can do: Link the external world with the internal organization."
Source: The Wall Street Journal, March 23, 2009