Situation: Several CEOs asked how others have had success improving company performance and is interested in how they focused their teams. How do you focus your team?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Important tasks for any company are to validate the value proposition, technology, target customer, and the rate of market expansion, and minimize risk and liability. This should be a regular company exercise – not a one-time event.
• Assuming that a company has goals and people who can align with and achieve them, a company needs a vision – the broader strategic picture of where they are going. Often some of the best ideas come from line staff who are enabled by their company’s culture.
• It is critical that companies are able to quickly identify problems and have systems in place to drive problem resolution. The minigame technique is very useful in these cases.
• Companies should have a plan for transitioning employees into new roles as the company grows. The key is clear identification of the individual’s role within the company, and how that role compliments achievement of company objectives.
• If a company wants to grow sales from, say, $20 to $60 million, it will need a professional sales leader. In addition, growth may require a change in company culture from engineering and development centric to sales centric.
• A significant challenge is determining how to define corporate success. Much depends upon the questions asked. The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack provides guidelines and tools for assessing options. Anyone starting or growing a business should look at this book.

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