2. The CEO presents a role for others to identify with and to follow: The leader empathizes with followers and sets an example in terms of behavior, dress, and actions.
The CEO’s attitudes and values concerning the corporation’s purpose and activities are clear cut and constantly communicated in words and deeds. For example, when design engineers at General Motors had problems with monitor resolution using the Windows operating system, Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, personally crawled under conference room tables to plug in PC monitors and diagnose the problem.
People know what to expect and have trust in their CEO. Research indicates that businesses in which the general manager has the trust of the employees have higher sales and profits with lower turnover than do businesses in which there is a lesser amount of trust.108