Strategist CEOs spend their time solving the organization's biggest problems, while technocratic CEOs waste time managing people and processes, limiting growth.
Strategist CEOs spend almost all of their time solving the organization's biggest problems, while technocratic CEOs waste their energy managing people and checking processes. The article shows how this difference creates a growth ceiling for companies led by technocrats, using a real consulting contract with a Dow Jones-30 CEO as a case study.
The technocratic CEO defined his job as assigning work and then micromanaging execution. He never owned strategy, so initiatives stalled and the firm's stock grew slowly. By contrast, strategic leaders like Procter & Gamble's A.G. Lafley or Charles Koch intervene directly in critical problems, adjust or discard processes that don't deliver, and align outputs into a coherent "portrait" rather than a list of pixels.
For technical leaders the takeaway is clear: shift from managing checklists to solving high-impact problems alongside your team. Push yourself toward the strategic end of the spectrum, and coach your reports to focus on outcomes, not just inputs. Doing so accelerates innovation, improves decision-making, and lifts performance.
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