CEOs need to understand their employee's time horizon

Much has been written about getting "buy-in" from the employees when senior executives want to create change. Yet often the new CEO falls into the trap of "telling" the employees the new direction for the organization. As opposed to working with their employees; listening, talking, brainstorming in order to form a joint view of the new way forward.

An understandable reason for this is that the new CEO is under time pressure to get things done. Wall Street wants results as soon as possible. Taking the time upfront to formulate a collective view is either seen as taking too long or the result of the CEO not being a decision maker or both.

But here is the rub. The time horizon of the new CEO is one to five years. They need tangible results within twelve to eighteen months and their overall tenure is likely to be around five years. The time horizon for the employees is actually longer than this, they see themselves working for the same organization for at least five, ten, fifteen years or more. So when the new CEO starts 'telling" them about the new direction they either agree with what the CEO is saying and get on board or if they disagree they simply decide to "wait this one out" and see what the next CEO brings.

I wonder how many CEOs out there have the majority of their employees "waiting this one out" while they are puzzled because real change isn't taking place?

Regards,

Rob