Category Archives: Leadership

Working with an Off-Shore Business Partner – Six Recommendations

Situation:  The Company has an off-shore business partner. Primary concerns involve team performance, process documentation and anticipating sales/marketing problems before they become issues. What have you found effective to monitor these areas?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • At the executive level, keep things simple – identifying the major goals and pieces of projects that are the make-break points.
  • Simplify the high level summary and make sure that all of the supporting activity is aligned with and supports key project or company goals. Some members manage projects with weekly or bi-weekly meetings.
  • The benefit of keeping it simple in your own mind is that you can always return to this simplicity when dealing with detail level queries from the partner. It keeps you grounded and on track.
  • One company uses project timelines that clearly show each of the teams where they fit into the project and how important it is for them to complete their portion of the project on time and to spec. Keep everything simple and direct.
  • Sales tracking and management is different from development projects. Drive monitoring off forecasts, pipeline, and achievement of metrics that track with the forecasts.
  • In working with your off-shore partner, organize your presentations so that the key points of emphasis are readily visible. Have back-up slides to show detail aspects of particular projects or initiatives, and be prepared to cover the details if needed. This will help to build confidence between you and your business partner.

Key Words: International, Partner, Performance, Process Documentation, Sales, Marketing, Alignment, Project Management, Communications                 [like]

Developing Leaders within the Ranks: Four Approaches

Situation: As they have grown, the Company has used Bay Area talent to seed new locations around the country. Leadership is now short at headquarters. What have others done to fill leadership gaps?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Develop a formal Leadership Development Program.
    • Identify the top leadership candidates with the company – the top 10%.
    • Identify their individual goals and determine whether these are consistent with company values.
    • Clearly communicate the roles and expectations that you have for future company leaders – both the upsides and the sacrifices that you anticipate that they will have to make.
    • Team the leadership candidates 1/1 with mentors to guide them.
    • Consider an “internal” Board of Directors for developing leaders. Members are considered advisors to the true Board of Directors, understand company strategy, are coached on company values, and are involved in an advisory capacity in key company decisions.
    • Consider a leadership “boot camp” program to groom potential leaders and weed out those who like the idea of leadership more than the reality.
    • From the standpoint of a very hierarchical company, the following items are involved:
      • Time
      • Talent
      • Defining the traits for key positions
      • Identifying candidates who appear to possess these traits
      • Assigning leadership roles to these individuals in executing the annual strategic plan – with senior managers mentoring leaders-in-training
      • Include training and development in professional development plans
      • Investigate employee assessment tools, for example the Myers-Briggs tools.

Key Words: Leadership, Development, Goals, Values, Roles, Expectations, Mentor  [like]

Gee, I Like Your IP! Let’s Talk: 3 Steps to the Dance

Situation:  The Company is moving from a specialty solution to a complete solution. They have identified a partner with intellectual property (IP) that will help them fulfill this vision. How should the CEO approach this company to access their IP?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • There are two aspects of any deal: technical feasibility that will produce value; and the emotional needs of the principals.
    • The technical aspects are the most straightforward and easiest to value.
    • Frequently, a favorable deal hinges not on technical feasibility, but on the desires of the principals and their ability to trust one-another.
  • If you are convinced of the value, you must convince the other party that their best option is to work with you. Then you can negotiate the specifics.
    • Sell your vision: the technologies together are much more valuable than they are alone: 1 + 1 = 5!
    • If control of the technology is an issue, you must negotiate an arrangement where they are comfortable with your control.
      • Do you and the other party have a trusted advisor in common or is there an individual who is respected by both of you? This person can help communicate your good intentions.
  • If your best efforts do not produce an appealing arrangement, your fall-back position may be a partnership. If the partnership is backed by modest investment with options for future purchase, this may be another way to for you to eventually gain control of the technology.

Key Words: IP, Intellectual Property, Negotiation, Emotional Needs, Feasibility, Deal, Partnership  [like]

Micromanage – Me? Four Observations

Situation: The CEO is concerned about the performance of both the company and individual employees. The employees are good, but there are many minor details of day-to-day operation that the CEO feels are important. How involved should the CEO be in the details of the business?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The answer to this question depends on you.
    • What is your own priority on the use of you time?
    • How much do you want to be involved?
    • How confident are you in the people whom you’ve hired?
    • Are you comfortable delegating?
    • Do you want to stay small or scale and grow?
  • The good and bad of involving yourself in details:
    • The Good Side – communicates that you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do what it takes to get the job done.
    • The Bad Side – don’t do your employees’ jobs for them.
      • This is demotivating and communicates a lack of trust in their abilities.
      • If the workload is so demanding and the benefit so great, then secure additional resources to enable employees to get the job done themselves.
  • More broadly, remember the lesson from many business gurus – you increase the value of your company by getting the “U” out of your bUsiness. You may enjoy the detail of the business. However, do not let this interfere with your long term objective of having others doing the “doing” while you mature your role as manager and leader.

Key Words: Manage, Leadership, Delegation, Confidence, Growth  [like]

Whadayamean an Annual Plan . . . Really? Nine Guidelines

Situation: The CEO has developed an annual plan and wants ideas on the best way to communicate the plan to staff, secure buy-in and create accountability for execution.

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Communicate your vision for the company and the future as a broad outline so that employees know how they can contribute. Create a picture so that they can see and support your vision.
    • Ask for input on how to implement the plan. Since they will be doing the work, the best way to generate buy-in and accountability is for them to own the implementation plan.
    • You don’t have to share all details of the plan with everyone. If you communicate the plan in parts to those who will implement them, tailor the message to the person, and create individual objectives that will support the overall plan. Connect achievement of objectives to job evaluations.
    • Limit the number of objectives for each person – three key objectives plus one personal development objective. Have each employee develop activities to support achievement of their objectives.
  • Once objectives are in place, conduct regular meetings to review progress against plan and objectives, identify performance obstacles and solutions, and to reinforce the overall vision.
    • The vision must be simple and direct. Consistently repeat and reinforce the message. Publicly recognize individual contributions that support the vision.
    • Establish metrics to track progress toward the vision.
    • Stay on message with each person – focus on their goals and contributions.
    • Be consistent in your words and actions and use them to reinforce the vision.

Key Words: Business Plan, Annual Plan, Vision, Message, Buy-in, Accountability, Performance Objectives, Metrics  [like]

I’m Up all Night Worrying that Things are “Too Good.” Three Considerations

Situation: Business has turned around in the last six months and I’m so focused on sales that I don’t have time to plan. How and when do you plan for growth?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Think about the business cycle – the upswing, the peak and the downturn:
    • On the upswing there is a tendency to be so focused on the day to day that you spend no time testing the business environment or on the long-term planning activities that are critical to sustained growth and success.
    • If the CEO doesn’t take time during the upswing to evaluate new opportunities it’s easy to fall into the trap where planning occurs until after the cycle has peaked.
    • After the business cycle has peaked, it is too late to take advantage of opportunities that were available during the upswing.
    • Once the business cycle is in a downturn attention shifts to preservation and survival. The opportunity to reallocate resources to build alternative future scenarios has been lost.
  • If you feel pressure to bring on additional resources, set a timeframe to evaluate the situation – say a few weeks or a month – and see if the pressure is sustained. If it is, have a plan in place to secure those resources. Do this with a clear head – not on impulse. Exercise discipline.
  • Remember that leadership is your job – not being immersed in the day to day. A leader keeps others immersed in and focused on the day to day.

Key Words: Leadership, Business Cycle, Planning, Adding Personnel  [like]