It’s All About Your People

“From now on, we WILL have a culture of accountability!” says Fred, the CEO of ABC Company at his monthly Executive Team meeting. His team looks at each other and they roll their eyes. They know something that Fred doesn’t: accountability starts with him, and he doesn’t have a clue…

Elvis Costello keeps singing in my head. “What so hard about peace, love and understanding?” It starts me thinking about today’s topic: What’s so hard about asking a question?  Why Is Question Asking Important? In my practice as a Vistage Chair, I use a Socratic approach with my members, asking…

One  vital function of the role of CEO is eliminating barriers. Since the CEO holds THE position of power within the organization, only he/she can remove the major barriers that impede execution and employee engagement. Here is a Checklist list of common barriers to help you identify them in your…

During a meeting with a couple of other Vistage Chairs, we were discussing the most common mistakes we see CEO’s make.  This is the first, in a series, about them. Avoiding Difficult People Issues “If I didn’t have to deal with people, my job would be easy!”  My members and…

Empathic Listening When I first became a Vistage Chair several years ago, I thought I already had good listening skills.  I was wrong.  Since then, I have become convinced that if everyone knew how to truly listen, relationships and businesses would vastly improve.  Let’s briefly explore listening. Understanding others would…

  At the end of each year, I ask each of my members to go through a focus process and construct their “Big Picture” for the upcoming year. This includes (re)envisioning a point in the future and selecting what actions (also called strategic initiatives or multi-term goals) will move their…

   In my previous post, I talked about organizational barriers. Here is a personal experience that illustrates how one Senior Manager quickly erected them. I was hired to bring the accounting functions of two large healthcare organizations together.  “Merger babies” was the unofficial title for new employees hired during this…

  Unless you plan on living forever (I have a member who does), someday you will exit your company. Your company’s value will be significantly impacted by how well the company runs without you, as the CEO. Do you believe that your company must change as fast as the rest of…