Harvard "CEO Test" Part 2

Can you lead transformation, listen (really listen), handle a crisis, and master the inner game of leadership?

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Two weeks ago, Sue Bethanis (Executive Coach, CEO/Founder of Mariposa Leadership) and I wrote a newsletter covering our approaches and advice in regards to the 7 questions of the Harvard CEO Test.

As a recap, the questions are:

1. Can you develop a simple plan for your strategy?

2. Can you make the culture real and make it matter?

3. Can you build teams that are true teams?

4. Can you lead transformation?

5. Can you really listen?

6. Can you handle a crisis?

7. Can you master the inner game of leadership?

If you did not read our issue covering the first 3 questions, catch up here.

In this issue we will talk about questions 4-7.

Sue and I teach the live online course Cracking the C-suite (for VPs and Directors) and all 50 seats for our cohort this weekend are filled. Enter your email in the link above to get notified when we announce the next cohort—we only teach the course live twice a year, so the next cohort (dates TBD) will be in the second half of the year.

If you want the content now and prefer to digest the information at your own pace we have a video on-demand version of the course here.

Now, on to the questions.

4. Can you lead transformation?

My Experience

Early in my career, I was hired at a startup to replace a VP who had just been fired. My job was to turn around an unproductive engineering organization.

Leading transformation isn’t just about driving change—it’s about aligning people, processes, and culture behind a bold new vision.

Here’s how you can lead a successful transformation:

1. Define a Clear Vision and Communicate Relentlessly: Transformation starts with a crystal-clear vision. Where are you taking the business, and why does it matter? This vision needs to be specific, compelling, and aligned with the company’s long-term goals. Then, communicate that vision consistently. Every decision, meeting, and conversation should reinforce the transformation. Make sure your team understands not only what is changing but why it’s critical for the company’s future.

In my startup example, my first task was to help my team understand why their beloved VP had been fired and what had to change to keep the company alive. This was essential in getting their support for the transformation.

The story highlights how we can view our work differently depending on whether we focus on the immediate task, the short-term goal, or the larger vision. Learn more about Jono’s work here.

2. Create Early Wins to Build Momentum: Transformation can be overwhelming, so break it down into smaller, achievable steps. Identify key areas where you can deliver quick wins to show progress and build momentum. These early successes help keep the team motivated and demonstrate that the change is working.

At the startup, we focused on meeting immediate customer needs and getting features out the door into production as our “early wins.”

Olympic Gold Medalist and investment banker, Justin Best, shared how he visualizes his goals (e.g. Olympic Champion in 10 years) and then works backwards to optimize every controllable input to drive outputs—the math shows that he is among the top 0.001% of performers. Read how he does it here.

Sue’s comments

There’s another side of transformation, and that’s the inventive side.

As a CEO, are you coming up with what’s next in your business, whether it be a new product or service? I bet you are, if you’re a start-up CEO. I am doing that as the CEO of my small 14-person business, Mariposa Leadership. It seems like I am constantly thinking about what additional value we could bring to our clients in the form of new services or added content.

As leaders, however, our role is also to inspire others to develop new ideas.

Here’s a 3-step way to do that. Encourage others to:

1. Explore deeply and broadly the ecosystem/landscape. This is what we refer to as being a T-shaped learner: Explore vertically in your field/industry and horizontally across (economics, geopolitical, societal).

2. Translate what you have learned by distilling what’s more relevant for your customers/clients. Your “MVP” (most valuable product/service).

3. Message your idea to the right audience to get it green lit.

5. Can you really listen?

My Experience

The smarter and more experienced you become, the harder it is to really listen. When you start your career, you may not realize how much customer or employee input matters. Later on in your career, you know it matters but you can also begin to think that you already know the answers.

In both cases, it is important to go back to the basics.

1. Talk to people. Do not allow yourself to think you know. Until you have heard it from the customers or employees, you do not know.

2. Get good at asking open-ended questions that get people to talk. Good examples are “What worries you?” and “What are you struggling with?”

3. Paraphrase or use reflective listening to restate what you heard in your own words. Ask the customer to confirm your understanding or correct it.

Sue’s comments

Listening well really does set the greatest CXO’s apart from the merely good ones.

I like what Ethan lays out as far as asking open-ended questions, especially as it relates to concern for others (customers and/or directs). Under question #3, I outlined what it takes to coach (RAR - Rapport, Assess, Reframe), and listening intently is the cornerstone of coaching.

Beyond getting into rapport, true listening is for understanding. Sometimes, listening leads to problem-solving, and sometimes, it's purely to demonstrate empathy.

We often try to fix others, but core listening is a mirror so people can simply feel they’re being cared for.

6. Can you handle a crisis?

My Experience

I’ve faced multiple crises, including two times where I failed publicly in front of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. One of those failures is documented in this LinkedIn News video.

In the video, I discuss crisis recovery. Here are the key 5-steps: