The Power of DEI: 10 Ways Successful CEOs Achieve and Sustain High Performance

What makes a CEO successful? Easy. They deliver sustainable, positive outcomes for the organisations' people, customers and shareholders/stakeholders. They also understand that their actions and priorities significantly impact their organisation's performance and culture. Successful CEOs also pay attention to and keep track of essential measurements and goals, ensuring leaders are responsible for achieving them. 

5 Steps Successful CEOs Take

Successful CEOs are confidently decisive about how to move the business forward by: 

1. Knowing they cast a long leadership shadow, and what they prioritise and visibly care about influences organisational culture;
2. Measuring, monitoring and managing metrics that matter to their organisation;
3. Allocating resources to and holding leaders accountable for delivering the strategic and financial goals of the business;
4. Having a bias for action and decisiveness. 
5. Communicating widely and regularly about the importance of achieving and sustaining the organisation's strategic and financial goals. 

But What Else?

There are some additional essential success factors that I want CEOs, aspiring CEOs and anyone in a leadership position to pay attention to. You guessed it. I want them to pay attention to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). 

I want CEOs and other leaders to ensure that: 

1. DEI is visibly and verbally prioritised because it will positively influence the organisational culture.
2. They measure and manage DEI progress, knowing that DEI metrics matter to the organisation's success. 
3. DEI strategy development and implementation are sufficiently resourced by CEOs so that the DEI strategy can be successfully implemented
4. There is decisiveness when it comes to actions related to DEI, and that action, when decided upon, is swiftly enacted.
5. The CEO and other leaders confidently and regularly discuss DEI as part of the communication cadence of the organisation.

The bottom line is that successful CEOs understand the importance of delivering sustainable outcomes for their organisations' people, customers, and shareholders. They prioritise essential measurements and goals, allocate resources, and hold leaders accountable for achieving strategic and financial objectives. However, their ability to embed and operationalise diversity, equity, and inclusion into their strategies sets superlatively successful CEOs apart. By doing so, they positively influence the organisational culture, attract and retain the best, and brightest diverse talent, enhance customer satisfaction, and increase innovation and creativity, ultimately leading to increased shareholder value. 

To become a superlatively successful CEO or leader, you must focus on all these critical success factors, including DEI. Doing so will increase your chances of delivering sustainable, positive outcomes for the organisations' people, customers and shareholders/stakeholders.