+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

INSTANT MBA: You Need To Be CEO And 'Chief Ironing Officer'

Apr 2, 2013, 01:17 IST

AvanadeUK/ YoutubeToday's advice comes from Ivar Kroghrud, former CEO of Questback via The New York Times:

Advertisement

"Part of my role is to be 'chief ironing officer.' It’s very easy in a fast-growing company and fast-changing industry to get hung up on all the things that aren’t working and that we should be fixing. If you want to get extraordinary results, you have to play to people’s strengths and you have to help them work as close to plan as possible. If you allow them to get bogged down in all the problems that are out there — and there are always problems — they’ll be unproductive."

Kroghrud says it's up to the CEO to make sure everything is running smoothly. Keeping your employees happy and checking in with them every once in a while can be vital to an organization. The more you iron out the kinks, the easier it is to maintain productivity levels high in your company. When you fail to establish a relationship with your employees, you're also at risk of staying in the dark when major issues start plaguing the organization.

"You can get a lot of speed by thinking of yourself as a chief ironing officer. Once you have a successful system in place, you can spend some of your time just walking around talking to people and asking: 'What’s preventing you from doing an even better job? What are you spending time on that you don’t feel you should be spending time on?' Those kinds of questions are easy to ask, and people relate to them."

Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to tipoftheday@businessinsider.com. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.

Advertisement

You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article