1: Who is typically the highest-paid player on an NFL team? ask Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra in their book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
The quarterback. Because he executes almost every play on offense. The quarterback is responsible for putting points on the scoreboard.
Who is the second highest paid?
Most “people guess running backs or wide receivers, as they work most directly with the quarterback to score the points needed to win,” the authors write.
But “fans of the movie The Blind Side, the story of a homeless teenager who grows up to be a star left tackle in the National Football League, know better,” they note.
The second most valuable member of a football team is the left tackle. Or if the quarterback is left-handed, the right tackle.
This player rarely touches the ball. But their role is essential. “Because they protect the quarterback from getting sacked or even injured by the other team’s pass rushers whom he can’t see because they’re coming at him on his blind side,” the authors observe.
2: What does this insight about football have to do with business?
“The best CEOs dig deeper and ensure enough rigor and discipline is applied to finding the ‘left tackle’ positions that protect and enable value to be created,” Carolyn, Scott, and Vik write.
When Larry Culp was named CEO at GE, he worked with his team to identify the highest value-creating roles. “We determined what were the nonnegotiable A-player slots,” he says.
In supply chain management, GE had historically operated with B-level players.
No longer. “We’ve got to get the day-to-day stuff right,” Larry shares. “You look today at our business and it’s not that we don’t have a great product or great people, but if we can’t deliver at the right time with the right quality it’s going to irritate customers more than ever,”
SCB’s Kan Trakulhoon aimed to re-position the company from commodities to higher value-added products.
“Roles that had been overlooked by the previous regime became important,” the authors note. “The research function was elevated, and its leader was recognized as a ‘left tackle’—one of the most important people on the team, even though by traditional measures that role had been considered less crucial.”
Attracting top talent in this critical area allowed Kan and his team to grow the percentage of sales from value-added products from 4 to 35 percent.
3: What is the one role CEOs typically only properly value after sparring with the analyst and investor community?
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
“It’s very important,” says IDB’s Lilach Asher-Topilsky, “to have the best CFO that you can get. They can take so much of the day-to-day off your shoulders. They become your right-hand person.”
Itaú Unibanco’s Roberto Setúbal reflects, “When I look back over almost twenty years in the role, my CFO was probably the most important person on my team.”
Aon CEO Greg Case believes hiring Christa Davies as CFO was among his most important decisions. “Christa is a complete partner in the building of Aon,” he shares. “We have been at this together from the beginning. Aon is simply not Aon without Christa.”
More tomorrow!
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Reflection: What roles in my organization qualify as “Left Tackle” positions? What are the key elements of our strategic plan? Do I have the right talent in the right seats?
Action: Discuss with a colleague or family member.
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