Category Archives: Leadership

How Do You Manage Your To-Do List? Five Recommendations

Situation: The Company downsized during the recession. The CEO and sales staff are overburdened by administrative and business development tasks. What’s the best way to bring to add resources to support sales and infrastructure?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Look at what hats you are wearing. Wear the hats that fit best and take off the others.
    • If an activity is not core to your success, off-load it. For example: bookkeeping, shipping and receiving, records and basic correspondence.
    • These are necessary, but don’t generate revenue.
  • If your core businesses are sales and service, is one more profitable than the other? Can you outsource pieces of the less profitable activity short-term?
  • Where do you want to be personally in the next 2 years? On what roles do you want to focus? Build a plan to transition you into these roles.
    • The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber is a quick read that outlines the process.
  • You may not need to bring in a high level operations manager. Consider hiring an office manager to help organize you and your business development staff. For a smaller operation this person can take care of phones, bookkeeping, shipping and receiving and routine correspondence. This will allow executive staff and sales to focus on growing and servicing customer demand.
  • During the summer months hire high school or college summer interns. They provide an inexpensive source of labor, high levels of energy and creativity, and are eager for work experience.

Key Words: Business Development, Core Business, Sales, Service, Outsource, Role, Office Manager, Intern  [like]

How do you Respond Strategically to Market Uncertainty?

Interview with Kevin Moser, CEO, Dfine, inc.

Situation: The medical device industry faces uncertainty due to potential changes in reimbursement, increased regulation accompanying health care reform, longer FDA approval timelines and the economy. How does this impact strategy for an early stage medical device company?

Advice:

  • First and foremost it puts a premium on focus. We compete in a market dominated by large incumbents. When introducing new products in the past we would have blanketed the market to maximize early market share. Now we are being much more selective in terms of where we compete and putting more effort into targeted geographies.
  • This focus is accompanied by more caution and control of spending. We will only hire a new sales rep, for example, if we are assured that there is a significant customer base in the market that rep will serve.
  • Similarly, we are being much more cautious in our capital equipment decisions, and if an employee leaves we do not automatically replace that individual.
  • In terms of price planning, where in the past we would have counted on annual price increases, we now plan for the potential of prices decreasing over time to reflect new pressure on reimbursement and cost containment. As another example, in 2012 there will be a new tax on medical device companies. We assume that this will reduce our margins where in the past we might have passed it on to the buyer. Reduced margins will also impact our new product investment strategy.
  • The big change in long-range planning is that we are focused on slow, sustainable growth – maintaining both gross and net margins and profitability. This is a major change from five years ago when our focus was on maximizing rapid market penetration for new products. We want to be self-sufficient financially and thus avoid having to rely upon future fund-raising rounds.

You can contact Kevin at kevinm@dfineinc.com

Key Words: Medical, Device, Reimbursement, Regulation, Health Care Reform, FDA, Focus, Product Introduction, Spending Control, Hiring, Pricing, Growth  [like]

How do you Maintain Morale in the Face of Uncertainty? Three Guidelines

Situation: The industry is changing and the Company must adapt both structure and focus. This may require a layoff of staff not aligned with the new focus. How do you maintain morale in the face of uncertainty and possible layoffs?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Ask for employee input as to industry trends and what possible directions for the company.
    • Employees are closer to the customer than the CEO and have valuable insights.
    • Gather input in small group meetings to prompt discussion and ideas.
    • Make this a research talk. Leverage the “wisdom of the crowd.”
  • Research other industries that have undergone similar changes.
    • What strategies did the most successful companies pursue? Could these work for you?
    • If faced with protracted uncertainty, what did they do while waiting for market clarity?
  • If a layoff is necessary, conduct it in one day:
    • Monday is better than Friday.
    • Do it early in the day. Give final checks the day of the layoff.
    • Provide instructions for filing for unemployment assistance via the Internet.
    • Hold a company meeting for remaining staff immediately after the layoffs. Focus your message on the future and positioning the company for the future.
    • Prepare a brief summary of your message, to distribute as a take-away.
    • Be prepared for a grieving process following the layoff. Consider outside assistance on grieving to overview the process.
    • Following the company meeting, have key employees conduct smaller group meetings to lead discussions and allay fears about the layoff. Fully prep these individuals about the situation with written responses to likely questions.
    • The benefit of a Monday layoff is that you will see everyone on Tuesday, and the team can continue to address their concerns.

Key Words: Strategy, Layoff, Change, Morale, Employee Input, Analysis  [like]

Are Your Employees Living the Company’s Values? Four Recommendations

Situation: A tenet of the Company is that all decisions are made consistent with Company Values. However, some of my managers are asking for guidance on how to do this. How have other CEOs encouraged managers to make decisions consistent with company values?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Create cross-functional teams to address initiatives, solve problems and develop new processes consistent with company values.
    • This builds understanding other departments’ perspectives, and awareness of the impact of decisions on the company as a whole.
    • It builds awareness of company values and fights unhealthy competition between functions.
  • One company created an employee task force to encourage living company values. Their solution includes:
    • Review the company’s values and consider revising how they are stated for easy learning.
    • Involve employees in discussions of company values and how they are applied in their departments.
    • Create a cross-functional employee task force to address inter-departmental conflicts and to suggest solutions in line with company values.
    • Expect everyone to know the company’s values, and occasionally test them.
  • Build a vision of what the company looks like as an expression of its values.
    • Make living this vision part of your role.
    • Include living company values as a formal responsibility of managers.
    • Reward initiatives that build company values into company efforts.
    • Regularly review with your mangers their execution of company values.
  • Create “SMART” objectives around implementation of company values, and hold individuals accountable for achieving their objectives.

Key Words: Company Values, Decisions, Employee Involvement, Initiative, Vision, Role, Objectives, Accountability  [like]

How do you Prioritize Multiple Priorities? Seven Suggestions

Situation: The CEO was just promoted from COO. During the transition, the CEO is responsible both for past and new duties. There is an extensive list of Company priorities. How should the CEO prioritize this list for action?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Key Take-Aways
    • Focus on Executive Committee roles first – the roles of your leadership team.
    • Select your leadership team carefully – the team that will implement your agenda. They will help you make key choices and implement changes and programs. It is essential that this team present a united front as you roll out any changes.
    • As CEO, you are now accountable for the success of the company.
      • Put issues on the table.
      • Gather input and advice from your team.
      • Make your decision on how to move forward.
      • Delegate responsibility and accountability.
      • Rally the team around your decision.
      • Follow-up to assure that things are getting done.
    • Be focused. If you only had the resources to do three things, which would these be? What will bring the greatest short and long-term value to the company?
    • Avoid micromanaging assigned responsibilities.
    • Bring in a consultant to assist you in implementing organizational changes that are necessary for the company.
      • Defining new roles and responsibilities.
      • Correcting behavior of team members that does not benefit the team.
    • As soon as possible, promote, or hire someone to take on your old roles. You will have your hands full as CEO.

Key Words: Priorities, Leadership Team, Accountability, Responsibility, Delegation, Follow-up  [like]

What’s My Role as CEO? Five Perspectives

Situation: The CEO questions whether he is the right person to lead the Company. The Company has solid revenues and profitability, but growth is lower than expected. How can the CEO improve his situation and solidify his leadership?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The primary functions of the CEO are to assure the maintenance of company values, to provide vision, and to monitor resource allocation within the company.
  • Identify your strengths, and the most important areas where you need help. Create an organizational chart not of positions but of strengths that are needed within the company. Compare these positions with your own strengths, and focus your own activities on your strengths. Promote or hire talent to support you in the latter areas.
    • As you hire or promote and delegate, make sure that you are allowing those with new responsibility the latitude to run their areas of responsibility.
  • Should I consider hiring a CEO or COO?
    • Maybe. If you do, first identify the key leadership traits that we most want to see in a candidate.
    • If you hire a CEO, this individual should have skin in the game. They must be perceived as a leader, and there must be a clean hand-off.
    • Consider hiring a COO. This can be someone willing to take this role with the understanding that your long-term objective is to replace yourself as CEO. A person unwilling to come on as COO and to develop into the CEO may not be the right candidate.

Key Words: Leadership, Role, Strengths, Delegation, Organizational Chart, Values, Vision, Resource Allocation, CEO, COO                                                             [like]

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]