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Will You Add? - On Becoming an Effective and Enduring CEO
The Big IdeaGetting organized is not an easy task. Everyday, you are forced to deal with mountains of paper that contain both crucial information and useless garbage. This scenario is common to anyone who dares thrive in the workplace.Without realizing it, you may have bred your very own paper tiger. Although paper can serve a great purpose, a huge amount of it can literally wreak havoc and harm productivity.Barbara Hemphill, a well-known professional organizer, shares her expertise on how to effectively manage your files, take control of your time and produce effective results.Getting CenteredOrganize Your Thoughts It is tempting to put off organizing things for another day. Unfortunately, constant procrastination often results in you realizing that your files have become unmanageable causing you to mismanage appointments and other work commitments.“I don’t have the time” is the most common alibi used to explain lack of organization. What you may not realize, however, is that a lot of time is wasted when you try to search for missing documents.Remember that organization is a tool that will help you be more effective in the work you do. By being
Q. Is the board focussed on the short or long-term?
While the board may talk about being “in it for the long-haul” look at what shareholders and board members have done in other situations. Are they long-term players or typically just looking for a quick return?
Q. Will there be a business reinvestment strategy or is there a single-minded focus on shareholder returns right now?
A. To this point there may not have been calls to reinvest in the business. A leading question to ask then is: “What has been their track record either in this or other business interests?”
Q. Is it a public or private company?
If private, who
Forget the saying ‘the world is getting smaller’ – it has gotten smaller. Advances in transport and communications technology combined with the development of a world economy have resulted in people from different nations, cultures, languages and backgrounds now communicating, meeting and doing business with one another more than ever.There are some observers that claim this new found intimacy has lead to a greater understanding of ‘the other’ and as a result our cultural differences are in fact diminishing. However, in reality the opposite is true. As we come together our cultural differences become accentuated as we start to realise that the rest of the world is not reading from the same book. One area where this is now being felt is in business.Very few businesses can escape the need to at some point in time deal with foreign colleagues, clients or customers. Business is international and if an organisation wants to develop and grow it needs to harness the potential an international stage offers. Twenty years ago British, European and American organisations doing business abroad had very little competition due to the lack of rival industrialised nations. Back then it was easy to do business ‘our way’. Today s
Potential CEO’s come from a much wider range of business disciplines than even five years ago and perhaps CEO applicants can benefit from my real-world, in-the-trenches questions and experiences on both sides of the CEO fence. If you have had a career largely in one discipline to this point then these questions will enable you to think of the CEO role in broader terms.
Questions, many of which are in the considered “soft” areas, have potential answers that will help you make a balanced decision as to whether your potential career move will be a good fit, and if so, increase your chances for success in the role. The alternative?
I describe it as the “eighteen-month club.” You are hired, the board has great expectations on sales and profit growth….. you make the right noises, six months go by, twelve months and the board starts questioning “Where are the results?” and by eighteen months you are in the departure lounge along with 15-20% of the CEO’s from the Fortune 1,000. You have joined the eighteen-month club!
So it is time to start probing:
Q What stage in the business life-cycle is the organization in?
Initial high-growth; maturity; decline or the start of the 2nd growth cycle? Is there widespread recognition and acceptance by individual board members of the life-cycle stage?
Q. Does the company strategy have a long-term sustainable competitive advantage? How do you know?
A. Instead of just relying on information provided, have you completed a S.W.O.T? Talked to customers and ex-customers? Talked to competitors? Searched the internet? Found industry trend information? Looked at benchmarked data?
Q. Has the business model passed its “use-by” date?
Aggregators, e-commerce, new competitors or technology may all have had a major negative impact on the business. Does the board truly recognise it or are they still in denial and in the mode of trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?
Have they considered a Greenfields approach to the development of a business plan?
“If I were starting the business today would we do business the same way?”
If not, then the board should have directed the development of a business plan recognising: industry trends, new technology, competitors, factors impacting on the business model, geographic factors related to sales and support and traditional and non-traditional competitors. e.g., in the check printing business considering the impact of credit and smart cards.
Q. Has the board gone through the cost-cutting phase, or are they locked into ongoing cost-cutting?
A. No-one ever downsized to greatness. During the process of downsizing trust and morale typically are destroyed. Unless the board is focussed on re-growth strategies and not further cost-cutting, then I would suggest that your tenure will be short-lived as you will not be demonstrating additional profit from new business acquisition.
Q. Is the board focussed on the short or long-term?
While the board may talk about being “in it for the long-haul” look at what shareholders and board members have done in other situations. Are they long-term players or typically just looking for a quick return?
Q. Will there be a business reinvestment strategy or is there a single-minded focus on shareholder returns right now?
A. To this point there may not have been calls to reinvest in the business. A leading question to ask then is: “What has been their track record either in this or other business interests?”
Q. Is it a public or private company?
If private, who
The exciting term, infopreneur, is becoming a hit among today's entrepreneurs who want to capitilise on the sea of opportunities available on the internet. An infopreneur, apparently combined from the two words "information" and "entrepreneur", refers to an entrepreneur who makes money by selling/sharing information on the web.Infopreneurs fall into two categories. One is where infopreneurs sell information which are created on their own. The other kind is whereby infopreneurs piggyback off information from certain sources, modify as their own and sell them. The selling part might not exactly refer to selling information to readers directly all the time. Instead, sometimes information will be made free to be read by anyone. In this case, revenues are earned through advertistments which are relevant to the information. Infopreneurship serves as an important purpose to the public especially when people are looking for information on a specific topic. Then again, the reliability of the source has to be checked for.The selling part comes in when an infopreneur offers information products in a variety of formats including books, e-books, special reports, audio formats, videos, workbooks, booklets, and virtually any me
I describe it as the “eighteen-month club.” You are hired, the board has great expectations on sales and profit growth….. you make the right noises, six months go by, twelve months and the board starts questioning “Where are the results?” and by eighteen months you are in the departure lounge along with 15-20% of the CEO’s from the Fortune 1,000. You have joined the eighteen-month club!
So it is time to start probing:
Q What stage in the business life-cycle is the organization in?
Initial high-growth; maturity; decline or the start of the 2nd growth cycle? Is there widespread recognition and acceptance by individual board members of the life-cycle stage?
Q. Does the company strategy have a long-term sustainable competitive advantage? How do you know?
A. Instead of just relying on information provided, have you completed a S.W.O.T? Talked to customers and ex-customers? Talked to competitors? Searched the internet? Found industry trend information? Looked at benchmarked data?
Q. Has the business model passed its “use-by” date?
Aggregators, e-commerce, new competitors or technology may all have had a major negative impact on the business. Does the board truly recognise it or are they still in denial and in the mode of trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?
Have they considered a Greenfields approach to the development of a business plan?
“If I were starting the business today would we do business the same way?”
If not, then the board should have directed the development of a business plan recognising: industry trends, new technology, competitors, factors impacting on the business model, geographic factors related to sales and support and traditional and non-traditional competitors. e.g., in the check printing business considering the impact of credit and smart cards.
Q. Has the board gone through the cost-cutting phase, or are they locked into ongoing cost-cutting?
A. No-one ever downsized to greatness. During the process of downsizing trust and morale typically are destroyed. Unless the board is focussed on re-growth strategies and not further cost-cutting, then I would suggest that your tenure will be short-lived as you will not be demonstrating additional profit from new business acquisition.
Q. Is the board focussed on the short or long-term?
While the board may talk about being “in it for the long-haul” look at what shareholders and board members have done in other situations. Are they long-term players or typically just looking for a quick return?
Q. Will there be a business reinvestment strategy or is there a single-minded focus on shareholder returns right now?
A. To this point there may not have been calls to reinvest in the business. A leading question to ask then is: “What has been their track record either in this or other business interests?”
Q. Is it a public or private company?
If private, who
Why not have an auction or raffle for your favorite charity or organization?? This organization could be your drill team, cheerleading group, prom committee, sophomore class, charitable organization, military organization, fraternity or any other group wishing to make money from a raffle or fundraiser of some sort. You can usually get special prices on items to use for auctions or raffles for non-profit organizations and clubs.Why would you have people in your organization wash cars for 6 hours in the hot sun trying to make money for your charity or fundraiser only to make $400 for the day!! Instead, have these same people spend that same time with the fundraising by selling $5.00 raffle tickets or even $10.00 raffle tickets to 1,000 people to win a large prize such as a gas scooter or electric scooter or even a collegiate e-bike. Implement these fundraising ideas at your shopping centers, malls, or parking lots, door to door, at school and to friends and relatives. A fund raising program to raffle off a large item and get over $4,000 in that same time spent will mean many more $$ in your fund! The raffle tickets for this type fundraiser are easy to sell. Th
Q. Does the company strategy have a long-term sustainable competitive advantage? How do you know?
A. Instead of just relying on information provided, have you completed a S.W.O.T? Talked to customers and ex-customers? Talked to competitors? Searched the internet? Found industry trend information? Looked at benchmarked data?
Q. Has the business model passed its “use-by” date?
Aggregators, e-commerce, new competitors or technology may all have had a major negative impact on the business. Does the board truly recognise it or are they still in denial and in the mode of trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?
Have they considered a Greenfields approach to the development of a business plan?
“If I were starting the business today would we do business the same way?”
If not, then the board should have directed the development of a business plan recognising: industry trends, new technology, competitors, factors impacting on the business model, geographic factors related to sales and support and traditional and non-traditional competitors. e.g., in the check printing business considering the impact of credit and smart cards.
Q. Has the board gone through the cost-cutting phase, or are they locked into ongoing cost-cutting?
A. No-one ever downsized to greatness. During the process of downsizing trust and morale typically are destroyed. Unless the board is focussed on re-growth strategies and not further cost-cutting, then I would suggest that your tenure will be short-lived as you will not be demonstrating additional profit from new business acquisition.
Q. Is the board focussed on the short or long-term?
While the board may talk about being “in it for the long-haul” look at what shareholders and board members have done in other situations. Are they long-term players or typically just looking for a quick return?
Q. Will there be a business reinvestment strategy or is there a single-minded focus on shareholder returns right now?
A. To this point there may not have been calls to reinvest in the business. A leading question to ask then is: “What has been their track record either in this or other business interests?”
Q. Is it a public or private company?
If private, who
Assuming you are on the lookout for new employment, there are countless resources available for you either online or offline to find a suitable career and various job information. At times it can seems like a lot of work searching and weeding out all the different avenues to find the exact job information that you're looking for. But rest assured that plenty of resources are at your disposal either online or within you own local community to help. The many different websites can be searched through and lots of key job information is available simply by signing up and posting your resume. Once a few choices are made, you can narrow down to the exact position that sparks your interest. Of course, this all depends on your own skill sets and job requirements. Some fine websites for job information are www.careerbuilder.com, www.monster.com or even usajobs.opm.gov if government work interests you. If you are the space type, then head over to nasajobs.nasa.gov and browse around. These sites not only offer jobs but information on how to best apply for them.First off, you need to sit down and ask yourself what type of career you are interested in. That will spark some thoughts as to what job information suits you the b
“If I were starting the business today would we do business the same way?”
If not, then the board should have directed the development of a business plan recognising: industry trends, new technology, competitors, factors impacting on the business model, geographic factors related to sales and support and traditional and non-traditional competitors. e.g., in the check printing business considering the impact of credit and smart cards.
Q. Has the board gone through the cost-cutting phase, or are they locked into ongoing cost-cutting?
A. No-one ever downsized to greatness. During the process of downsizing trust and morale typically are destroyed. Unless the board is focussed on re-growth strategies and not further cost-cutting, then I would suggest that your tenure will be short-lived as you will not be demonstrating additional profit from new business acquisition.
Q. Is the board focussed on the short or long-term?
While the board may talk about being “in it for the long-haul” look at what shareholders and board members have done in other situations. Are they long-term players or typically just looking for a quick return?
Q. Will there be a business reinvestment strategy or is there a single-minded focus on shareholder returns right now?
A. To this point there may not have been calls to reinvest in the business. A leading question to ask then is: “What has been their track record either in this or other business interests?”
Q. Is it a public or private company?
If private, who
Using lines and shapes and your company or business name can create an awesome and unique logo design that everyone will remember.Nike for example uses a type of swoosh line and when you see this line you know it is Nike. So, why not come up with your own unique lines and shapes to convey your own image. When people see that Nike line they think of fast and then the put it with the Nike name and know that if they wear these shoes they will be fast runners.Lines can convey feeling and emotional thoughts for your logo design. When using sharp edges they conveys discipline, conventionalism, and sometimes can be perceived as cybernetics. While softer edges will give your company the image of down to earth and casual.Shapes can also give feeling such as a circle represents never-ending and protection, a square represents dependability, permanence, and honesty, a triangle represents competition, battle and vitality.You may think that lines and shapes are boring but you would be definitely thinking wrong. Lines can be used in a variety of ways to ensure that your logo design is one that will be strong, get noticed and will be remembered. You can
Q. Is the board focussed on the short or long-term?
While the board may talk about being “in it for the long-haul” look at what shareholders and board members have done in other situations. Are they long-term players or typically just looking for a quick return?
Q. Will there be a business reinvestment strategy or is there a single-minded focus on shareholder returns right now?
A. To this point there may not have been calls to reinvest in the business. A leading question to ask then is: “What has been their track record either in this or other business interests?”
Q. Is it a public or private company?
If private, who are the key shareholders? It is important to meet one-on-one with each of them to consider such things as:
- is there a dominant personality? - will they let the chair do their job? - has the board been “stacked” or are there the right disciplines to take the company forward? - will directors do what is right for the company, or dosome board members pursue personal agendas? - will primary shareholders continually second-guess the
CEO by calling in regularly at offices or taking staff to
social events etc? - Is the owner or dominant shareholder an entrepreneur?
Typically they are short-term players, not interested so
much in planning and have a “Do it – fix it” mindset.
Q. Does the board truly understand their role?
A. My experience with private corporations in particular is that the board does not stick to strategy design, and then evaluate the CEO on his or her execution of that strategy. Too much time is spent debating operations. This discussion does little to ensure the long-term profitable operation and market superiority of the business. Again, using my experience this is not such a factor in public corporations.
Q. Governance charter…. Is it just a wall-hanging, or a code they live by?
A. Quiz board members on their knowledge of the charter and answers will provide your first clue.
Q. Do board members seem “tenured” or do board members change according to the skill mix needs of the organization’s life-cycle?
A. Very easy to see how long each board member has continuously served and whether board members have to retire by rotation and offer themselves for re-election, and whether after say two terms they have to stand down for one complete term.
Q. Does the Board go through a formal evaluation process? Whole Board? Chairman? Individual Board members?
A. If not, why not? Perhaps it has never occurred to them, perhaps the Board is too new or perhaps it is considered too threatening by individual Board members.
Q. What are the sacred cows?
A. I am pleased to report that in most cases there are none. However, understand whether there are any sacred business processes, unprofitable/low-profit customers you are “requested” to retain, or any untouchable personnel.
Q. Why did they consider making the job offer to you?
A. Job descriptions are broad and so what specifically out of your background is it that they think you will do?
Were they looking for a celebrity CEO, someone who will build a leadership team, a consensus builder or someone who will drive change? Roles are broadly characterised as growth navigators; execution maestros; turnaround surgeons or business model transformers.
Do you think they will want you over the longer term, or will they transition to someone else once their initial goal with you is met?
Q. Have they structured your proposed compensation package for growth or stability? Do they want you for the long term?
A. An easy way to determine the answer to the first question is to look at what percentage of the package is at risk? Twenty to
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