I am the CEO of INKISH, and though I hold a quite pristine title - glory, money, and influence don't really get along with the title for me. I wouldn't say I am worthless, but I would like to state that hard work itself doesn't earn you a lot. When I watch other CEO's, I am sometimes wondering what they do to earn the money they do.  

That, of course, raises a question. What can you expect from a CEO? If you manage an organisation or a federation, is it only a question of managing it? Is it only a question about managing the people, the freelancers, the consultants, the suppliers, the customers, or is it also a question about driving your company forward? And what happens if you are not able to drive it forward? I am wondering since you do see companies or organisations where leadership apparently fails. Fails in the context of not delivering growth. 

I was once a Sales Manager in a printing company, and one of my colleagues asked me what I thought about the current management. You can always shoot and deliver your personal opinions. Still, my answer was more like "I don't know what expectations and what objectives the management has been given, so I honestly can give you a qualified answer." 

Maybe my personal answer to that statement should have been - "well if the owners expect nothing, if they expect laziness and no hard work, they've got what they asked for" - but well, that would be too biased I guess?

I am not a very good CEO. I have no difficulties setting the course, but to manage and drive people in that direction takes time, and I am not good at it. I expect people to deliver, but do they? Well, I am trying to encourage, but I have this nagging feeling that sometimes even my staff tries to take short cuts. 

This is, of course, not very clever to write in an article about my own position as CEO. But, hey. I want to develop content, write articles, develop crazy great ideas. Being in a small company, that comes along with being the owner, the CEO, the administrator (which I suck at even bigger times), the creative person, the human being, and of course on top of developing what we have today. 

I am damn proud of INKISH - and maybe we deliver that little something that makes our company valuable not just to our partners, and employees, but also to the industry. Today I spoke with my Business Development Manager Henrik Klem Lassen about Walther Isacson's book about Steve Jobs. It was about how great it must be to deliver on a promise that seems so bold that nobody should be able to achieve it. When Jobs speaks about 'Shaking' the universe, this is not a minor thing, and to deliver on it must be so crazy! 

If I was in a situation where I should hire a CEO for INKISH, I believe I should either try to find somebody who lives up to the standards I wish I could deliver - OR - find somebody who likes to administrate. What do you think? Do your CEO perform and deliver according to YOUR expectations, or how do you see him/her? Too many CEO's in the printing industry forget, in my opinion, the most important asset being a CEO, which is being constantly curious. New business ideas/models, New technology - and at the same time have a positive scepticism that allows you to speculate and work out ideas that will eventually bring your company forward. 

What about the CEO's that do not deliver? Well - doesn't that fall down to the board as well? If a company in our industry doesn't perform well, it's not the market. It's the ability to manoeuvre.  What we at INKISH is trying to build requires a lot of work, and an extreme focus on all the little things as well. The requirements I have to my people is high, but I can only deliver if everybody put all their effort into being slightly better than yesterday. Performing a little bit better since last week. Having a total focus on work and our effort with no distractions - whether it's work-related or private-related.  

When you are asked; "how many people work in your company?"  I wish my answer isn't like the joke "50%" - I need 100% to do what we are doing. Are we there now - NO!