Was it Steve? In a way – yes. Steve was that rare breed of CEO who bucked the organizational challenges and provided the innovation leadership skills their companies needed.
How did he do it? It’s not as mysterious as many would like to believe. He was a founder CEO. I’m not talking about equity ownership but the influence and emotional control that founders uniquely have. He wasn't the first founder CEO who used their unique position to provide innovation leadership to their organizations. This club includes such innovators as Walt Disney and Bill Hewlett/David Packard.
So why are founder CEO’s unique?
Founder CEO’s have a unique place in the business world. Their motivations are much more personal. The success of the business is more than just satisfying Wall Street’s drum beat of the quarterly results. The bond between the founder CEO and the company are inseparable (Can you separate Facebook from Mark Zuckerberg?). Founder CEO’s are willing and able to take risks that others can’t or won’t. Founding CEO’s never see themselves leaving their company so they are there for the long term.
Non-founder CEO’s are employees. They are motivated by the compensation package put in place by the Board. They keep their job if they deliver the results the board dictates. No matter how powerful a CEO is, a non-founder CEO is challenged in their ability to use their position to take risks while having the patience needed for innovation success.
So what happens when the founder CEO is no longer around?
As with stock, nothing keeps going up and to the right forever. Just look at Disney and HP as two examples. Both companies have gone through significant leadership challenges post their founder CEO’s.
When looking at the innovation success of companies, investors need to take into account the current and future role of founder CEO's and what impact that will have.
