The case for the Chief Evangelical Officer

Executive: A person having administrative or supervisory authority in an organization.

Administrator: Person who manages.

Manage: To get by.

In theory, the modern business is led by the Chief Executive Officer. From this office vision is issued, values are codified, and mission is set. In theory, this is where a firm’s most effective leader should sit.

Why then does this leader commonly behave like an administrator? A bureaucrat? A Vogon? Where is the emotion? Where is the Passion for the overall objectives of the firm?

An organizational leader must, by definition, be a true believer in the mission, vision, values, and goals of the firm. The C-suite should be home to the Evangelists, not the Executives. Here is my case for the Chief Evangelical Officer:

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed (wo)man is king.

A vision cannot be told. It must be sold at every level, in every facet of an operation. All of a firm’s stakeholders look to the CEO to provide direction both explicitly and implicitly. If clear direction is not provided from the top, it will be made up from the bottom. When vision is created from the field, it inevitably leads to a siloed workforce, and cumulative sum-zero productivity. A CEO needs to speak to the overall vision for the firm in every communication, and they need to make sure the same commitment is made by the ensuing levels of management. Only when the vision becomes a brand within a firm can a leader be assured of alignment across the firm. Stakeholders need to be assured at every turn that leadership is seeing the road ahead. If seeing is believing, and stakeholders cannot see, they will need to have complete trust in the vision of the one eyed (wo)man.

Adding water to wine makes neither the water, nor the wine, better.

It takes the courage of a leader to reject revenues that do not align with the overall mission and goals of the firm. When a leader is committed to the long-term direction of their firm, it will be necessary to reject projects, or customers, if they do not help to further the goals, or align with the mission of the organization. That’s right folks, not all business is good business; cash is not king; the customer is not always right. Having the conviction to reject revenues communicates a commitment to mission and goals to everyone in a firm better than any speech, memo, or poster. This type of action is the act of a true believer.

Every business is a brand.

No great brand of any kind became a great brand solely on the merits of the product. An administrator might be able to devise the greatest business plan of all time, with insurmountable competitive advantages and undeniable consumer value, yet without a distinctive voice –or brand- the excellence of the plan is unlikely to see the light of day. A Chief Evangelist builds the brand, which drives the firm to deliver on its plan. A Chief Evangelist creates other evangelists, which create other evangelists, ad infinitum until the mission, vision, values, and goals of the firm become a single brand. A brand speaks to consumers in his or her own language, and speaks directly to their heart. The sooner a leader understands their brand, the better they will be able to motivate stakeholders across the organization.

Great leaders build firms up from nothing, capable Executives keep organizations afloat until a leader steps forward. What every organization must guard against is Executive Administrators disguised as leaders. These false leaders pretend to have vision, but instead follow the market. These false leaders fail to drive a firm to a preferred future, but rather look to maintain a favored past. Be warned against the dangers of the Administrator in Chief! Seek out a Chief Evangelical Officer who will inspire stakeholders to achieve a bold future.

Bring forth the Chief Evangelical Officer, and bring forth a new day in your organization.