When I’m asked what I think the CEO’s job is, I say it’s only two things: Grow your People Grow your Company And then I ask the CEO, “Whose job are you doing right now?” Every CEO I have asked this question of has smiled … Read more
The process you go through to create your Executive Team will be emulated by your direct reports to create theirs. Make sure that process is worthy of repeating. Be a mentor. If you’ve made mistakes, share them. If you’ve done something that worked well, share … Read more
What Key Reports Do You Need to Implement Your Vision? From the following list, you should be able to identify three to five positions you’ll need to create right away or sometime in the first year. These will ideally become your executive management team: Chief … Read more
The best way to avoid being taken by surprise with the makeup of your executive team is to plan ahead by creating a one-year vision. Your one-year vision will allow you to clarify what positions need to be filled and under what terms, while also … Read more
What Talent Do You Need on Your Team? There is a big difference between being the conductor and being first violin in the orchestra. One is about accomplishing a group goal and one is about accomplishing a personal goal. The conductor of the orchestra is … Read more
Learning from Your Past Leadership Roles Think about the times you’ve held leadership roles in your life. (You may have been class president, a scout leader, a team leader in sports.) What were you doing? What team did you put together? Think through your past … Read more
During the last few weeks of blog posts, we have covered the most effective ways I have found over the years to develop Mission, Vision, and Values and why that’s so important. Next, we come to the “now what?” stage. This includes who needs to … Read more
While values are often tagged on after mission and vision, as I’ve just said, it’s important that you start your Intentional Purpose exercise by defining your values first. Values are the foundation of your business identity and they should inform all the decisions you make. … Read more
You’ve probably seen various descriptions for these three words. I suspect they’re some of the most overused terms in business, but also the least understood. Worse, although they’re the subject of much discussion, even when they are articulated, they are rarely used as the guiding … Read more
Congratulations, founder! You made it! The final chapter in your leadership journey has finally arrived. You have graduated from the school of hard knocks, clawed your way to the top, maybe even broken the glass ceiling, and the day is finally—finally—here. After countless meetings with … Read more