后CEO时代呼唤集体领导

    我们是否已经进入后CEO时代？

    这是个特别合时宜的问题，原因不仅仅在于眼光独到的技术先驱史蒂夫•乔布斯刚刚逝世不久。这位苹果公司（Apple）核心创新者的离世令许多人倍感绝望，因为他们相信，他正是苹果公司背后唯一的推动力。人们认为，CEO是公司里唯一有能力改变世界的人。这种想法不仅非常可怕，同时也有失公允。假如这种观念成为美国创新的模式，那将是非常危险的赌博。

    现在，我们应该转变思想了。整个行业——出版、金融、汽车、房地产等等，不一而足——甚至整个国家都在经历变革。曾经强大的经济体陷入困境，而新兴经济体与他们既竞争又合作。全新的商业模式取代了旧有的模式，这些新模式常常以软件和服务为中心。这个世界正变得越来越复杂。世上的CEO们作为企业的领导者，将越来越难以单独行事。只有建立和维持一个强大、灵活、多样和紧密团结的领导团队，才能迎接未来的挑战。

    IBM2010年对全球1,500多位CEO进行的一项调查中发现，79%的CEO预计他们将在未来面对比如今更加复杂的局面。这个惊人的比例表明，单个领导者的意见、想法和经验可能不足以在未来成功驾驭一家公司。IBM在2011年对全球3,000多位首席信息官（chief information officer，简称CIO）的一项调查显示，现在CEO和CIO比以往任何时候都更加团结，他们正在使用IT创新来提高公司业绩。

    IBM的调查结果表明，尽管团队领导目前还不是管理层面的目标，但集体决策与个人决策的较量越来越不可避免，越来越明显。

    值得指出的是，IBM一直都是团队领导的践行者。这家公司在一个世纪的发展历程中已经打造了一支强大的领导管理团队，甚至在富有魅力的CEO刘易斯•格斯特纳离开公司之后，也能帮助IBM继续发展壮大。2002年，扭转了IBM颓势的格斯特纳离职，当时公司里的许多人都担心会出现领导真空，就像乔布斯在逝世前不久辞任苹果公司CEO的情况一样。当时，苹果公司的市值和文化影响力正处于顶峰。

    然而，在后格斯特纳时代，IBM仍然势不可挡，今年其市值甚至超越了微软，这还是自1996年以来的第一次。蓝色巨人（IBM别称）受益于其企业文化和价值观，而这两点长期以来一直都有助于推行团队领导。比如，IBM不久前宣布，弗吉尼亚•罗曼提将在1月份接替彭明盛成为公司总裁兼CEO。这项任命并没有引起商界的震动。IBM历来重视培养出色的高管，辅佐公司的CEO。他们不仅是公司的接班人，还使公司的日常运作变得更加顺畅。

    Are we living in a post-CEO world?

    This is a particularly timely question, and not just because I pose it not long after the loss of tech pioneer and visionary Steve Jobs. The death of Apple's (AAPL) core innovator has been met with widespread despair, because many believe he was the singular driving force behind the company. Yet the idea that a CEO is the only person within a business who has the ability to change the world is daunting and unfair. For such a concept to be the model for American innovation is a risky bet.

    It's time for our thinking to evolve. Entire industries -- publishing, finance, automotive, and real estate, to name a few -- and even entire nations are changing. As once-mighty economies suffer and emerging players on the world stage both compete and collaborate with them, and as new business models, often centered around software and services, take the place of old ones, the world is becoming more complex. The world's chief executives will be increasingly hard-pressed to go it alone as leaders. Only by building and maintaining a strong, flexible, diverse, and solidly aligned leadership team will they be able to face the challenges ahead.

    In a 2010 survey of more than 1,500 global CEOs, IBM (IBM) found that 79% of chief executives anticipate that they will face greater complexity in the future than they do today. This stunning statistic suggests that the opinions, ideas, and experience of a single leader might not be sufficient for successfully navigating an organization in the years ahead. In fact, a 2011 IBM C-suite survey of more than 3,000 chief information officers worldwide concluded that CEOs and CIOs are more aligned than ever before and are using IT innovation to drive business results.

    IBM's findings suggest that even if team leadership isn't currently a management goal, group versus solo decision-making is increasingly necessary and falling into place.

    It's worth noting that IBM is a perennial practitioner of team leadership. In its 100 years, the company has built a robust executive management team, which has helped it to thrive even after charismatic CEO Lou Gerstner left the business. When Gerstner, who is credited with the company's turnaround, departed in 2002, many people at IBM feared a leadership void similar to that left by Jobs, who stepped down as CEO of Apple shortly before his death, at the company's zenith of market valuation and cultural influence.

    But in the post-Gerstner era, IBM continues to be a juggernaut—even rising above Microsoft (MSFT) in market capitalization this year for the first time since 1996. Big Blue is buoyed by its corporate culture and values, which for a long time have been conducive to team leadership. For example, the recent announcement that Virginia Rometty will succeed Sam Palmisano as president and CEO in January did not come as a surprise to the business world. IBM has a history of cultivating strong senior officials to support its chief executives, making not only successions, but also day-to-day operations smooth.