Although modern notions of Management often pays premium to the notion of guided leadership in order to stave off excesses associated with unfettered power, there is a direct correlation between the CEO brand and Corporate success.

1. The CEO Brand and Corporate
Success
Bolaji Okusaga

2. 1. Creating a Dual Personality
• The Corporate and the Individual

3. Introduction
REALITY
PRACTICE
• In the normal context, a company as
corporate citizen should have a
life, an essence and a personality
• This personality distinguishes the
Company from other companies
which offer similar products or
service.
• However, most companies as
corporate citizens take the definition
of their life, character and personality
from individuals who are either
founders or operators.
• Indeed, companies are defined by
the character and personalities of
their founders or those who run
them.

4. Defining the Interplay Between the
Corporate and CEO Personality
Culture
The
Corporate
Personality
Governance
The CEO
Personality

5. The CEO as the Mind of the Organization
The CEO
Values
Philosophy Character
Influence
The values, the philosophies and the characters of these
individuals usually rub-off on these entities and determine
their success or failures.
Hence, it is difficult to think about Apple without thinking of
Steve Jobs, or Microsoft without Bill Gates or Virgin without
Richard Branson or South-West Airlines without Herb
Kelleher or General Electric without Jack Welch.

6. The CEO and the Structure of Corporate
Thought
• The personality of the CEO
A change
agent
A deal maker
A hardline
technocrat
A quiet and
conservative
builder
A people
person
Corporate
Philosophy,
Corporate
Culture,
Values,
Character
The CEO
The CEO’s character has an impact on the direction of the company he / she
runs. Since the buck stops on the CEOs table, the direction of the enterprise is
certain to be shaped by his/her temperament.
A CEO that knows his onion will lead the charge
because there is no change without character

7. How the CEO Character Shapes the
Corporate View
Apple Under Steve Jobs
(Republican Views)
• Company does not do free or
Open Source Applications
• The IOS is closed and does not
interact with other
Applications
Google Under Larry Page
and Sergey Brin
(Democratic Views)
• Company does free and Open
Source Application
• Android is open and cheap to
access

8. The CEO as the Turn-around Master
Roberto Goizueta
Lou Gerstner
• Taking over from Lucian Smith,
rekindled the Coke appeal by
introducing far reaching
changes
• The high point of his era at
Coke was the introduction of
the diet brands and Coke
Classic
• A CUBAN IMMIGRANT
• He took over from John Akers
and brought back IBM from
the brink
• He prioritized the IT business
and grew earnings in that
division by over 50%
• He also embraced the internet
and drove an innovative
culture at IBM
COCA-COLA
IBM
Jack Welch
• Taking over from Reg Jones, he
re-ordered the priority of GE
• Moving GE out of White Goods
business having lost cost
advantage to Asian Companies
• He prioritized turbines,
healthcare and finance, making
GE America’s most loved
company
GE

9. Where are the Women
Carly Fiona
Indra Nooyi
Oprah Winfrey
• Under her, HP weathered
the storm of the dot-com
bubble, acquiring Compaq
and becoming one of the
strongest players in the
Computer hardware
market.
• According to BusinessWeek
since she started as CFO in
2000, the company's
annual revenues have risen
72%, while net profit more
than doubled, to $5.6
billion in 2006
• Credited with creating a
more intimate confessional
form of media
communication, she is
thought to have
popularized and
revolutionized the tabloid
talk show genre pioneered
by Phil Donahue

10. The Entrepreneur and the Empire
Builder
Sam Walton
Steve Jobs
Redefined retail business
Redefined the way we work,
consume information and
listen to music, bridging the
divide between arts and
science
Creating the Walmart
phenmenon – a Cocktail of
Retail, Vending and
Financial Services
Aliko Dangote
Moved from Haulage, to
Commodities Trading , to
Production, building a
diversified Conglomerate
and becoming Africa’s
richest Man

11. The Nigerian Example
Jim Ovia
• Redefined the concept of Banking in Nigeria by introducing On-Line-Real-Time
Banking and Convenience Banking before it became the minimum standard of entry
thereby beating Competitors like Guaranty Trust and Diamond Bank.
Fola Adeola and Tayo Adenirokun
• Pursued a value-added strategy that most bankers usually avoid in order to save cost
and created a differentiated value proposition
• Built banking halls with grandiloquent facades and boutique interior designs which
offered comfort and style and elevated customer experience using people and
technology
Eneli Kuku and Obiora
• Redefined health care delivery in Nigeria by being the first publicly quoted Hospital.
Through its access to funds from the capital market, it was able to raise enough funds
to procure state of the art medical equipment and hire experienced personnel
thereby raising the bar in private health care delivery

12. 2. The Corporate Personality
• Is it Human or Institutional?

13. Corporate Governance and the
Institutional Route to Creating Value
The Struggle
Between Enterprise
and the Individual
Corporate Governance
often lays water-tight
rules which prevent
individuals from overpowering an enterprise
The Transition…
The Laissez-faire Order
Enlightened Self
Interest
The Era of Regulation
This perspective looks
at an enterprise as
institutional citizen
which must be
protected
The Power
Dynamics
The Era of the Triple
Bottomline
The Era of Sustainability
Institutional Power
against the charisma
and genius of the
Individual

14. Does Corporate Governance Limit
Individual Initiative?
The Basis – Guided Leadership
• The believe that concentration of too much power in the hands
of an individual may be counter-productive as such individual
may become power drunk or corrupt.
• The thinking is that creating processes and procedures as
opposed to allowing the discretion of the CEO prevail all the
time, is a better route to attaining growth and stability of the
enterprise.
The Individual’s point of Departure – The Place of
Genius and Charisma
• Under the same rules – Jack Welch is
different from Jeff Immelt and Steve Jobs
is different from Tim Cook

15. The Clash of Corporate Vision and the Will of the
Individual
The battle between John
Sculley and Steve Jobs
The decision of the board
to side with John Sculley
The exit of Steve Jobs
The fall of Apple
The return of human will
in driving corporate vision
The rise of Apple

16. No!
Its Not the Individual, it’s the Collective…
The American Hero
Striking a Balance
The Asian Example
• Under the American
Context, the CEO has the
power to create
exceptional shareholder
value, he or she also has
the power to destroy
value and given the need
to keep value growing.
• Despite the power of the
CEO, organizations need
to strike the right balance
• Let’s look at the success of
Asian companies like
Toyota, Honda, Tata,
Samsung, LG and Hyundai –
who are the Icons?
• Beginning to outperformed
their American counterpart
and conquering the world.

17. Thank you.