More than once the community has asked for resources that I’ve found useful to creating a greater impact by elevating your skills and those of others.
Enjoy this curated list, share with others and let the authors now how you found them through The Drop In CEO community.
Drive your Career (I know the author) – Great tools to align with the people who can influence your future. Been on my podcast.
The 48 Laws of Power (given to me be a prior boss / past Navy) – Hard read, but takes you through politics and power and you find the tactics that work for you. Taught me a lot and from there I started to move up faster.
The CEO only Does Three Things – I know the author, been on my podcast. For you, it’s about setting your mindset to think like a CEO and then you’ll be perceived for those roles.
The Motivation Myth – I know the author and interviewed him. A great resource on how to motivate teams; different than traditional business.
The Leaders Mindset – I’ve wanted to interview the author, but doesn’t respond. I will someday. Very forward thinking in leadership mindset.
Good to Great – this is a classic. I should probably interview the author someday. This was really really good for me as I was setting up my strategy for the long game vs. short term thinking.
The only Leaders Worth Following – I know the author and he was on my podcast. Really, really good about what makes a leader worth following.
The Trusted Leader – I know the author and interviewed them on my podcast. Really good about trust and the making of great leaders that people will follow.
When you focus on your superpowers, you inspire others to find theirs…
Pain point marketing can be so exhausting and if you know me, I do things differently. ?
With a passion to focus on the positive, I’m sharing a quick story to inspire you and hopefully lift others in the process.
Oh my, I am so blessed that every time, every time…did I say every time! that I step onto the Zoom stage and greet one of you in my network the first thing you say is they love my voice! I am grateful for this gift to use it as a guide to exchange content and create meaningful connections. It’s one of my superpowers and when I leaned into amplifying t I find my relationships are so much stronger. While written communications can be effective, the outcome we wish to achieve is an emotion or experience for which the voice carries it so much further.
In the process of meeting with so many of you live, via zoom or simply through my podcast I’m starting to realize the impact it’s having on everyone. When we meet, I always listen and try to find either your value and make you aware of it. I also try to impart some value, so you are in a better place because we spent some time together.
This week, I kicked off The Drop In Collective and I was inspired by the engaging conversation. I know I shared some insight with the attendees or I simply provided a space for them to feel good about who they are and are becoming.
It’s moments like that when we take the time to focus on the process, our values and our superpowers that good things will happen. Recently during a mastermind, a colleague said as soon as they let go of results and simply focus on what felt good or gives them joy, magic started to happen. It’s a hard shift in mindset, but being the optimist… I’m riding that wave right now! I’ll let you know how it’s working!
For you, I’d love for you to pause and ponder what are your superpowers? What are those things you do so easily that when you use them, people are uplifted? Shouldn’t we be focusing more on those strengths than trying to fix what you’re not? And if you are reaching down into the organization, do you have talent that is good, but could they be great? How can you encourage them to use their superpowers to amplify their impact? Are they a good trainer? An excellent organizer? Do they have good people skills and can be put in front of a customer?
Just think about it. My job here is to help you discover what you can do to have a greater impact directly or through elevating others. We are all part of this community to elevate the C-Suite Leaders of Today and Tomorrow Navigate Challenges with Confidence.
If you need a resource that is part self discovery and part guide, please check out my book, The CEO’s Compass: Your Guide to Get Back on Track. Share your receipt and I’ll provide a complimentary 30 minute workshop for your team on any Leadership or Continuous Improvement topic to provide value to your team.
If the book really resonated with you, I’d sincerely appreciate a book review as well!?
The Drop In CEO podcast is a great resource for insights and inspiration from industry leaders.
If you just want to connect with me and see how I can support you in a business or personal setback, let’s have a conversation.
My next Drop In Collective will be October 24th at 5:00 pm ET and October 25th, 5:00 pm PT where we assemble talented professionals from Operations, Operational Excellence /CI and Quality. We educate, elevate and collaborate on new skills, solving real issues and exchanging resources. Fast paced, high value and I’m grateful for you to join as we pilot the format until we have a viable product to expand this offer. Respond if interested and I’ll add you to the invite.
I ponder this as there are so many topics not taught in school and rarely through the journey of a C-suite leader. However, somehow they need to learn the skills to make them seen, heard and respected. I ask you the same question, how did you learn those simple tools that set you apart and were key to your success? I’ve seen leaders spend countless hours “managing” conflict because their team does not have the skills to effectively manage challenges with confidence. And yet we endure this wasteful practice vs. investing in your people to build those skills.
One such skill I teach is how to position a message for impact. So often we celebrate our subject matter experts for delivering the information we need for decision making. They’re wildly successful in their early career and then they hit a wall. As they are elevated to deliver information, they lose their confidence because we’ve failed to prepare them for delivering a message for action. When we don’t prepare them, the conversations go awry for which your rising star becomes deflated. A 30 minute coaching session in the art of delivering powerful messages for impact can be the key to their success and ultimately yours. Your conversations with your team are how to deliver the next powerful message vs. the wasted time managing someone who has lost their confidence.
The framework is easy:
Deliver the data
Describe the trend
Qualify as an Opportunity or Risk
Quantify the Magnitude
This will get attention and spawn conversation which is ultimately the outcome you want. It creates engagement and even if controversial, your C-Suite leader now has to learn new skills in conflict management.
Think about your situation or perhaps someone on your team who is leading others. Do they have these challenges and yet you don’t have the time to coach them? Let me be your partner and deliver the skills you need for your team. I care so much about investing in you and your team that the first 30 minute event is complimentary.
If there is a specific topic that your team struggles with, book some time with me so we can develop and deliver the tools your team needs for success.
If you’d prefer to spend time with yourself first and learn some of my insights for the C-Suite Leader of Today or Tomorrow, I offer my book, The CEO’s Compass: Your Guide to Get Back on Track. It leads you on a journey of self discovery as a leader and builds that foundation first before you can take it to your situation and guide you and your team.
Looking for something a little lighter to read? Check out my other content on my website for more insights and inspiration.
Like to learn on the go? The Drop In CEO Podcast is up to 259 episodes and there is a huge amount of conversations with industry experts that is sure to inspire!
Until we connect, I wish you well and continued success!
Okay, so now you think I’m off my rocker! After telling you in my numerous articles how feedback delivered in the context of what to continue, start or change is a positive framework, I tell you the absence of feedback is powerful. Well, even I can evolve my opinion and here’s why:
I asked for feedback and did not receive any…
Last week I asked for feedback about my offers and what I should change as I’m here to serve. What I realized was that I probably asked the wrong questions. I asked what should I change and instead I should have asked you, what do you need? Even I make mistakes and I thank you for your silence, because it gave me time to pause & reflect about what was missing.
You did share feedback, but I did not truly listen…
One person in my network shared that their friend consumes my content all the time and they really enjoyed it. They encouraged me to keep going because it’s making a difference. Being humble, I simply said thank you, but I didn’t give the feedback the respect it deserves. I’ve had many people say they like my content because it gets them to think differently and inspire them. For that feedback I am thankful and I will continue to be in service through my content.
You’ve spoken loudly about my voice… but what to do with it?
It’s funny how you work so hard to hone your craft to have people praise you for something completely different. You know me as a Fractional Leader, Crisis Management Expert, Leadership Coach, Podcast Host and Speaker. However, the thread that ties it together is my voice for which you have shared it is soothing, captivating and sometimes disarming.
I don’t have an answer right now, but I’m open to suggestions about how to leverage my voice and make a difference. I’d love to hear your thoughts! I value you and my network who have been so supportive to help me see what I can’t quite see.
I just want to say thank you for the silence…
I am truly grateful as it has given me so much time to reflect and figure out what to continue, start or change.
Having gained such great insight from the silence, I also turn to you and ask for you to reflect on your situation, career or business. Have you asked for feedback for which you did not receive any or it was nothing you could action on? Look for what is not said and there you will find the wisdom and feedback you are seeking.
I want to say thank you to all for your continued support and I will continue to hopefully share valuable insights and inspire each and every one of you.
Being the optimist that I am, I like to focus on the positive vs. the “pain” or “crisis” of the moment. And while sensationalism “sells” I always felt a pit in my stomach when having to market my capabilities to the crisis that leaders are feeling. What if we elevated the Opportunistic Leaders who embrace every challenge they are faced with as an opportunity to stand out and make a difference in their businesses and in the people they lead? I love partnering with these leaders and these are their stories:
Invest when others are retreating
A leader needs to see the opportunity to invest in the business, invest in your brand messaging and invest in people development. This CEO that I know (and I might add myself as well) has invested heavily in having the right people in their business. They know that when others are retreating and cutting back their budgets, these leaders see the writing on the wall and choose to spend money to secure a front position when the economy opens up. They call these leaders “crazy” or “poor business leaders,” however, by not investing consistently, they will actually spend more money in the long run.
The same philosophy goes for career advancement; the best time to look for a job is when you don’t need one. Same for business loans; when cash flow is good, this is the best time to secure loans. No one wants to lend you money when you don’t have it. So I ask you, do you follow the pack and retract or invest in the opportunity?
Focus on your core competencies and outsource the rest
Outsourcing can look very different for every organization, but fractional leadership and professional services that compliment your core competencies are always the most effective. Mid-size companies try to do without a resource for as long as possible before they’re in crisis and then have to pay more to get back on track. Gone are the days of trying to do it yourself or having internal resources for every functional area. Why not have highly experienced fractional leadership when you need it and at the rate you need it?
For example, you may not need a full time Quality Leader, but when there is a need to grow the capability in that area, bring in someone for the time you need them. It may look like a large short term expense, but a savvy leader sees the cost benefit of not having a full time resource year round. One such client only brought me in when they needed several 3 month projects. They saved a significant amount of money, but received high value results in return. It was only when the business grew significantly did they finally evolve the role into a full-time position.
When supplies are scarce and money is tight, invest in people development
People development may seem counterintuitive when the business is stressed and people are working long hours. But investing shows the team that leadership still care enough to allocate time for development. These are the times where people need to be agile, learn new skills in order to manage the complexity. Think about the capability of your people once you come out of challenging times if they manage difficult situations and you’ve developed their competencies at the same time. Investing sets your business up to thrive during the challenges. Your people will serve you better because you invested in them.
One such leader I worked with saw an opportunity to invest in the problem-solving capability of their people. They realized that time is their most precious commodity and if they could help their people solve problems more effectively, they’d get time back to do the work needed to expand the business. When the training was done, the capability was realized and also the teams came together as one; the greater outcome of investing in their development.
Do you have the courage to be the Opportunist in your organization?
One of the hardest things for a leader to do is to have the courage to do something that may be unpopular. What I find is that we’ve not given them the framework to influence others. I’ve shared this framework many times, as it’s my best tool to help you get what you need to invest in the future:
Describe the current state and the gap
Show how the trend is increasing or decreasing
Make the proposal for the change needed to close the gap
Describe the opportunity of making the change or the risk of doing nothing
Show the result or impact it will have on the organization
When we practice these skills, you become the leader others will follow by seeing the opportunity and influencing the change needed for long term success.
If you need more convincing that this is a better approach to being an Opportunistic Leader, Harvard Business Review discusses the Tactics of Strategic Opportunism which you may find interesting (originally written in 1987.) My recent blog post about What Peanut Butter Can Tell You About Your Business also shares about pressure testing systems to avoid a crisis.
My wish is for every C-Suite Leader of today and tomorrow to navigate their careers with confidence. If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me.
Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:
When I see my daughter texting her friends, I would often say, “why not pick up the phone?” To that question, she would share with me it’s a group chat and far more efficient to organize their evening plans. Who can argue that technology can be an asset to help with productivity and communication? However, when I reflect on workplace culture and breakdowns in communication such as “I sent you an email,” or “they haven’t responded yet to me in Slack,” I wonder if technology is an asset or detriment to progress and efficiency?
Recently, I stopped doing Zoom video calls for my networking; deferring to a lesser form of communication; the ancient telephone! I find by eliminating the visual distraction, I can more deeply focus on the words and intonation of the words exchanged to deeply understand the person and try to connect with them. My advice to you is to consider this old school way of communication.
On a side note, if you are one of the many that I’ve recently spoken to by phone about your career journey, both opportunities & challenges, I can’t wait to bring your insights into my podcast and my “C-Suite Moments” as we kick off each episode!
…and now back to another story:
In my last corporate job, I remember receiving emails from the sales team about how frustrated our customers were about quality and also the lack of responsiveness from the plant managers to their concerns. To that, I would pick up the phone, address their concerns and proceed with setting up a regular 1-2-1 schedule to build a collaborative relationship. They were sincerely appreciative of my approach as others would hide behind emails and texts rather than to confront adversity head on and resolve issues in real time.
Don’t get me wrong, technology is a time savings and highly effective in a culture where the team already has a high performing work ethic. But for teams that have not established trust and respect for one another technology, in my opinion, will be the demise of the community and result in more inefficiency.
If this sounds familiar and would you like to change the trend, here are a few suggestions:
Be the change you want to see in others. Others will model your behavior. Stop with the technology and meet face-to-face or pick up the phone. If your colleague is in another country, WhatsApp is a great tool to also converse.
Use the rule of three. If there are more than three electronic exchanges (email, text, slack, chat) and the issue is not resolved or clear, meet face-to-face or pick up the phone!
Conquer confrontation. If you’re afraid to confront a difficult person for which technology has been a buffer to adversity, meet face to face or pick up the phone. At times like this, there is no better time to learn new skills to close gaps in understanding or reaching goals. My Drop In C-Suite Academy & 1-2-1 Coaching help you to manage challenging topics such as this.
When technology is doing more harm than good, resulting in inefficiencies and creating more division, it’s time to stop with technology and find ways of connecting with humanity.
If you need more convincing, Business Insider shares additional insights about 9 Subtle Ways Technology is Making Humanity Worse. I also discuss in almost every chapter of The CEO’s Compass: that human connectivity and development is at the core of every change you need to get back on track. I’ve learned that once you build connections with people, then the use of technology can be an asset to exponentially create value. This too, can be evolved with support of a guide through my leadership and competency development offers.
My wish is for every C-Suite Leader of today and tomorrow to navigate their careers with confidence. If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me.
Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:
It pains me to see talented people succumb to the challenges of dynamic work environments without a support system. I was once one of those people for which there was no support in my environment except my poor husband who listened for hours. I know everyone reading this article knows at least 1 or 2 people who are distressed and need some level of emotional support. However, leaders don’t always see the signs. If not dealt with early, they become potentially performance issues as shared by my recent podcast guest Anthony Casablanca.
The early signs may manifest in the individual:
Pulling away from engaging
Having low or no energy or
Having unexplained delays or deflection
I implore you to not turn away and say it’s not your problem, because we rise and fall together. One weak link may not affect you today, but perhaps tomorrow when the person does not show up for work… ever.
Emotional support is becoming a conversation to have at the table and not behind closed doors. If you can help your team with their emotional support, more than likely a few individuals will highly benefit from simply starting the conversation. It all starts with you as a leader simply asking how people are feeling. Ask deep open ended questions about what challenges are they having and what is the impact. I often find that with increasing pressures, people don’t have good prioritization skills. In my article How to make better decisions we give our team better tools to prioritize their work and navigate complexity with confidence.
Physical activity, like running, going to the gym, dancing, etc.
Creative release, like writing, painting, playing, or listening to music.
Time in nature: nature walks, grounding, time outside
Surrounding yourself with positive people
Meditation or prayer
Consider these leadership changes to get people more emotionally engaged vs. drained:
Change the work environment for a meeting to standing in a new location or taking walks while meeting.
Do something creative like having fidget toys or arts & crafts for people to use during ideation sessions.
Consider changing the environment of where you meet
Bring in guest speakers
Engage people in thinking time before starting some meeting with a question prompt.
My wish is for every C-Suite Leader of today and tomorrow to navigate their careers with confidence. If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complimentary conversation, please reach out to me.
Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:
Great wisdom comes when you reach out to your network and ask two simple questions:
What were the opportunities you had that supported your career growth?
What were the challenges and how did you manage them?
I started on a journey to curate the best insights from industry leaders and bring them forward to you so you don’t have to struggle. Both leaders of today and tomorrow have the same challenges; just at different levels of evolution. To my surprise, connecting professionals has had a significant impact for me on many fronts. 1) It gives me the opportunity to stay current on the issues facing leaders of today and tomorrow. 2) It also allows me to build relationships with people I sincerely care about. I am pleased to share the insights I’ve gained from a corporate leader who I recently spoke to.
Why do you lead and what is the value you provide to people in your care?
Leadership, if one chooses, is a pursuit that continually evolves with a positive attitude and a thirst for knowledge. Whether through being a lifelong learner, having a mentor or investing a mastermind, we always need to develop these skills to have the best impact on the people we serve and lead on our journey. The first step is to check yourself and ask if you want to lead and what type of leader you want to be.
I find this step is the first in determining Who you are, Who you serve, How you will serve and what problems you can solve. This simple exercise getting crystal clear on your “elevator pitch” is the key to practicing and then coming forth as this leader. After all, being a leader is about marketing a vision and inspiring others to follow and elevate their capability to achieve. Learning marketing as part of your toolkit is a key step in messaging who you are. If you can say it and see it, then you become it!
Evolve your value in an environment that cultivates your passion and skills.
Find a job you are passionate about, consider a rapidly growing / changing company and one with opportunities to interface with customers. When you love the work you’re doing and throw in a fast paced environment, learning is at its highest level both the good and bad. You learn from this process and iterate rapidly to hone your technical and leadership skills. I found when I work in startup companies, you wear a lot of hats, you have broad responsibilities and you see the impact of your work much faster.
“Pursue excellence in everything you do and give up on perfection.”
Once you’ve honed your value and expertise, you must be able to apply your skills with speed and agility. People need to see your value and also be brought along in the process. We must have grace when it’s not perfect and acknowledge our humanity. With leadership comes the responsibility to have an impact, but also be mindful of any risk of not doing things right. Leadership is about gaining respect of the people in your care and when they understand this style of leadership, they will follow and have your back.
Be a student of people – this is how you connect and have greater impact.
When you take your technical knowledge and add the art of reading & engaging with people, you perfect your impact. You need to read their body language, their engagement and how they look at people. I might also add you should focus on what is said, but more importantly what is not said. Sometimes the silence speaks volumes and a wise leader will study this deeply.
Invest in learning vs training.
Leaders need to assure that the training of their people achieves a greater outcome by coaching the skills needed until competency is achieved. Through an iterative process of asking questions about their training and how they apply it to what they do and how they think, we transcend the spectrum to a learning environment. Companies that simply check the box of training as a matter of compliance miss an opportunity to communicate a message that they care. By showing people you care about them as humans vs. a transaction we build trust in your leadership and might I say, your brand.
Always ask for feedback.
Great companies engage with people as part of consumer insights and market research to ensure the products and services provided meet their needs. Leaders that recognize that while we are in service to the needs of external customers, investing in the feedback of your internal customers provides you insight into what people are thinking. Create a culture of always asking for feedback. If you know me, I teach a workshop in providing a positive framework for soliciting feedback: What should I continue, what should I start doing and what should I change. All constructive and actionable for which leaders leverage these insights and make interactive improvements. People respect this action and continue to solidify your position as a leader worth following.
Learn what you will do and not do.
Great wisdom can be gained by modeling the behavior of leaders you admire and have succeeded. Even more powerful is knowing what you will not do as a result of a leader you have worked for. Taking the time to qualify your values and ways of working also add to your marketability as a leader. Yes, I am inserting the concept of marketability, because after all, people are loyal to great brands or great leaders. Being consistent in the leader you want to be and leading with your values will resonate with the people who are attracted to you and will support you.
Embrace the 70 / 30 Rule: be the leaders you want to be and it will happen.
We are required to deliver results and our employees, the business and our customers depend on us to execute consistently. However, you must continue to invest in yourself and evolve your impact by seeing and acting at the next level. This is the key to being seen and recognized for the next level. This wise leader shared that the formula is to be 70% in your current role and 30% performing at the next level. Take some time to look over the work content you do on a daily basis. Pick areas where you can improve your skill. One example I had was in the way I did presentations. Most leaders at my level did powerpoints in bullet form and spoke to their talking points. At the next level of leadership presentations, visuals and pictures were used to communicate messages and only supplemented by a few talking points. The presentation moves from a place of disseminating information to one that communicates powerful messages for influence.
What does all this mean?
In a Center for Creative Leadership Article, self promotion can be an asset to both yourself and your team. Leadership comes down to your value and marketing of who you are and how you will lead. When we establish our core values, be clear and consistent on our ways of working along with continually learning and evolving to the future needs of the market (your people, the business and customers), we evolve into the leader we want to be. We don’t often think about marketing ourselves as it can be seen as “showy”. However, we need to own how we show up in the market and become a person worthy of loyalty and followers; that’s marketing plain and simple.
Many thanks to the leader who inspired this article. I’m forever grateful to know this person and to share their insights with you.
If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. I love helping C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow reach their career goals.
Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:
I was tired, stressed and burnt out. I would come home each night and tell my husband something has to change. I would share what happened that day, what I had to do that night and then the next day; rinse and repeat. The challenges of managing a crisis, or shall I say multiple, were immense. I mustered all my energy and that of others to get through it and ultimately we did. I often reflect, was there a better way?
I wish I had a support system that would have advised me better during a series of crises in my last corporate role. But given that is in the past, I can only pass on some wisdom to help you to avoid a crisis or to come out better in the end. While I and my team weathered the storm of a quality issue, I wonder if we’ll ever get back the weeks & months of our lives. We were stressed and spent so many hours away from the things we love such as family, community and activity; all in the name of managing through a crisis.
According to a Forbes article report, 72% of those who came out whole in the end sought advice from their outside counsel. This is what makes leaders stronger, while for others, it can be their demise.
The formula comes down to three simple principles of what to do in a crisis:
Ask yourself what to do
Ask your team what to do
Ask someone from the outside
Ask yourself what to do: You are the leader and either through past experience or having the skills to navigate, you already have 80% of the answers in how to manage the situation. It’s served you in the past, but sometimes you need more input in order to succeed.
Ask your team what to do: If you’ve build a trusting relationship and they have your back, the team can fill in the blanks of managing through a crisis because of their depth of experience in their area of expertise. Their input enriches or course correct the experience you already have. They will validate your approach and bringing them along, they will work the crisis with you. You’ve gained another 15% of knowledge to navigate, but there is still something missing.
Ask someone from the outside: The missing 5% of how to manage a crisis can make or break a leader. Those that seek outside council are confident in themselves and recognize their strengths; but also where they don’t have all the answers. Some see this as a weakness or moreover, they can’t see it as a weakness because they’re heads down muscling through the crisis. This is where leaders fail because they look like they have it all figured out, but the outcome is quite different resulting in burnout.
The most important question a leader can ask is what else do they not know. Those that ask for outside counsel are seen as the strong leaders and those worth following into the next crisis. It ultimately comes down to: how do you know what you don’t know? By asking yourself, asking your team and asking someone from the outside, you build the confidence you need to be the leader of today and also model the behavior for those who follow you. And now I turn to you… will you ask for help?
The Drop In CEO is here to help; all you have to do is ask.
If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. I love helping C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow reach their career goals.
Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:
According to Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) 2021 Global Crisis Survey, 62% of businesses used their crisis plan in response to the pandemic and 95% of the businesses reported their crisis management plans needed to be improved. Is Crisis Management a compliance activity neatly tucked in the corner until you need it or an integrated conversation into our daily / weekly / monthly operational conversations? Based on that 95% statistic, I think it’s time to wake up leadership to the harsh reality that their job is not done until they apply the 7 Principles of The CEO’s Compass.
When I’ve dropped into Crisis events over the last 20 years, I have found a common theme amongst leaders. They have a false sense of calm because they can check the box on their compliance activities. They’re getting results (most of the time) and their team is loyal (or perhaps complacent). This calm before the storm is common and those that don’t respond quickly to a changing landscape (loss of a leader, changing customer requirements, changing customer perception), they find themselves moving down the Crisis Scale from being in Control, down to Chaos and finally Crisis. When I’m finally called into bring things back into Control and move them up the scale to Continuous Improvement and further into a Competitive Advantage, The CEO’s Compass provides you the direction of where you’re off track and how to make course corrections:
Framework of The CEO’s Compass to Navigate to Peace of Mind
Purpose – test the landscape and ask if people understand the purpose of the company in the context of their job function. This is an indicator that cascaded communications are effective
Performance – no longer the lagging indicator of results (quality, service, safety, sales), but leading indicators of closing the capacity, capability & confidence gaps of your team to meet the purpose of the company.
Past – if you or your direct leadership team cannot articulate the deep culture that each individual brings to the table, go find out now. In doing so, you pay respect to the individual and their unique qualities that made them special and the right to be part of the organization
Pride – building on understanding one’s past and their culture, you need to go the extra mile and understand their unique gifts and intellectual property they have. Whether you use them or not, by asking the question, you pay respect to the individual, they tend to be more loyal and you never know when you may need to leverage those gifts. Leaders that skip Past & Pride simply have a transactional workforce and they leave their minds & hearts at the door to your business.
People – developing the mindset & skills of your people fall on you to remove any barriers to enable them to reach their full potential. Ensure you have a robust program that starts with strategic investment in your people through 1-2-1’s and capability development.
Process – the dynamic between individuals and functional groups is as important as people development. Without coaching team dynamics and leveraging each other’s skills, you will fall victim to wasted time and lost revenue due to process inefficiencies.
Platform – a leader who has an evolving team and moving towards high performance needs to provide them with tools to assure they can maintain high performance. Often tools that enable good decision logic, prioritization and accountability are critical when your people are taking on more work and need to increase their efficiency & effectiveness else they’ll burnout. 77% of people surveyed in a Deloitte survey say they’ve experienced burnout.
I can assure you that most leaders are off track on 2-3 of these guiding principles to prevent a crisis. There is nothing in here about a crisis, communication or risk mitigation plan as typically developed by your Crisis Management Officer. If you’ve not shored up the compass, you become the 95% statistic of the company not being prepared and needing to make improvements. For the team that is navigating towards Peace of Mind, the 8th compass point, the Crisis is the opportunity for which their fullest potential will be realized.
If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. I love helping C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow reach their career goals.
Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service. Click the link if you’ve been thinking:
