Lesson from Nokia: CEO sets the tone

One thing that I learned working in startups with 5 different CEOs is this:

CEO sets the tone.  

Every little things that CEO says or does have enormous impact on everyone in the company.  Reason is really simpile.  It's because CEO is the top boss.  Everyone looks for type of decisions that he or she makes and tries to emulate.  Everyone takes cues from CEO as to what behavior will be awarded and what won't be.

Therefore it is critically important role for company's success.  Depending on how CEO interacts with executive staffs and makes decisions, it will empower executive team, directors and every managers in the company or stifle them.

When I read accounts of what happened at Nokia, I got reminded how important CEO's role really is.  WSJ ran an article about how Nokia created smartphone way earlier than Apple and spent much more resources on R&D than Apple, yet it was not able to lead smartphone market.  Even worse it could not even recognize the threat that iPhone posed to Nokia's business when iPhone launched.

Guess when this Nokia smartphone was released.
It was launched back in 1996.
That's 8 years earlier than PalmOne Treo 650.

Tips From Three CEOs: Obsess Over Customers To Make Fans Out Of Them

While I was taking a deeper dive from tweets that landed on my Flipboard, I came to discover three separate interviews with CEOs who recently have made headlines. To my surprise -- maybe it's not too surprising if you think about the final message -- I found a clear theme across these interviews: Obsess over customers to make fans out of them.

This lesson has been repeated so many times that it has almost become a cliche. But I think it's a lesson that we should hold close to our heart when we are building a company or service. We have to constantly think about how to improve the customer satisfaction, and turn the customers into advocates so that they can be viral marketing agents working for you.

For anyone who's aspiring to launch a service or create a company, these interviews are must watch.