Last year, Simon Sinek shared a video saying that the title of CEO needs to go and be replaced by Chief Vision Officer.

He argued that every other title explains a person’s role–the CMO works in marketing, the CTO works in technology, etc. But when it comes to the CEO, most people don’t know what the role even means.

If the CEO’s role is to set the vision and inspire people, Sinek says they should be called the Chief Vision Officer.

I don’t agree.

I’ve talked to hundreds of leaders and employees around the world. Almost everyone knows the responsibilities of the CEO: set the vision, inspire people, guide the organization, and create a better world.

The issue isn’t the title. It’s that we don’t hold the CEO accountable for doing what they should be doing.

Changing the title isn’t going to make any difference.

We’ve got to go back to the foundation of leadership, including defining what it means to lead and be a leader. When we understand what it means to lead, we can put people in leadership positions who have the right skills and mindsets.

Instead of promoting the most connected or most senior people, we need to promote people who are skilled at unlocking potential, seeing the big picture, and motivating others. And then we need to hold them accountable to do those things.

The CEO title isn’t the issue. And changing the title won’t change anything. We’ve got to re-think leadership and ensure we have the right people in leadership roles.

I put together a video which talks about this in more detail. Please check it out below and if you want more content like this you can subscribe to my Youtube channel.

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This episode is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Workplace is a business communication tool from Meta. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

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