Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) their roles and functions

CSO are traditionally strategic planner of an organisation and play a supporting role to CEO, has key responsibilities as below:-

A master of multitasking. CSOs are responsible for an average of 10 major business functions and activities, as diverse and demanding as M&A, competitive analysis and market research, and long-range planning. They must be capable of quickly switching between environments and activities.


A jack-of-all-trades.They had significant line management and functional experience in such areas as technology management, marketing and operations. Less 20% had spent the bulk of their pre-CSO careers on strategic planning.


A star player. Most CSOs achieved impressive business results earlier in their careers and view the strategy role as a launching pad, not a landing pad.


A doer, not just a thinker. Although CSOs split their time almost evenly between strategy development and execution, their bias must be toward the latter.


The guardian of horizon two . Senior teams generally have a good handle on short- and long-term issues. The medium term, that period from one to four years out, can go underattended, however. CSOs must focus the organization's attention on horizon two, the critical period for strategy execution.


An influencer, not a dictator. Strategy chiefs don't succeed by pulling rank. They sway others with their deep industry knowledge, their organizational connections and their ability to communicate effectively.


Comfortable with ambiguity. All executives today must exhibit this trait, but it's especially true for CSOs, whose actions typically won't pay off for years. The role tends to evolve rapidly and requires an extraordinary ability to embrace an uncertain future.


Objective. Given their wide remit, chief strategy officers can't play favorites. Openly partisan CSOs, or those who let emotions or the strength of other personalities cloud their vision, are sure to fail.