Tag Archives: Set

How Do You Strike a Healthy Work/Life Balance? Three Points

Situation: A CEO fills nearly every minute of the day with activities. All these meaningful to him and the company, and he enjoys the contribution that he is making. However, he fears that he is beginning to burn out. Is burning the candle at both ends doing harm or creating the legend? How do you strike a healthy work/life balance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • We are best at what makes us happy. We are the only individuals who can really monitor our activities, so we must set both our own priorities and the metrics.
  • The priority is a positive, healthy lifestyle. What may be getting in the way?
    • Getting enough sleep. Medical studies indicate that while some people can get along on 6 hours of sleep per night, most need 7-8. Those who get less than 6 hours on a regular basis are taxing their bodies as well as their psyches. Are you are not getting enough sleep to sustain your current level of activity? Is the recovery time from strenuous activity increasing? If so, your body is telling you something!
    • Quality time with significant others. Are you spending enough quality time with your spouse and children? On a regular basis, not on a once-per-week evening out. Is your family receiving the time and attention that they need, or are they sending signals that they need more? Given the importance of these relationships, not just now but looking out 10-20 years, perhaps it is necessary to reallocate proprieties.
  • Create monitors to assure that you are not over committing and that you are giving sufficient time to rest and your family. After all, this is a marathon. You don’t want to burn out in the first mile!

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How Do You Balance Career and Personal Goals? Three Guides

Situation: After two challenging two years, a CEO has observed that to keep the company afloat he has had do set aside his personal goals. As the economy has recovered business conditions have improved and he wants to devote more time to personal goals and objectives. Where should he focus, and how have others faced this challenge? How do you balance career and personal goals?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Take the time to think about and quantify a long-term solution. This should be in detail with specific and measurable objectives, and, ideally, timelines.
    • Talk to peers. Ask them about their experience and how they defined both professional and personal goals.
    • Seek a mentor. Evaluate several before selecting one
    • Use introspection and identify the real issues and factors – both those that must be tackled and those that are aspirational.
  • Document your dreams and pursue them.
    • Define your goals and objectives.
    • Define what makes you happiest and assure that the goals objectives align with this.
    • Create a reward structure. Assure that you are in charge of each reward.
  • Pursue fulfilling outside activities.
    • Look at organizations or courses that are inspirational and aspirational and which align with what was documented in the first two steps. These could be formal organizations like Toastmasters or evening academic or online courses that appeal to the documented aspirations.
    • Get a copy of Don Clifton’s “Now, Discover Your Strengths.” It includes a link to the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment that helps to identify strengths and fulfilling talents.

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How Will Your Personal Plans Impact the Company? Six Points

Situation: A CEO, for personal reasons, is planning to move to another state. While he will remain CEO, he is concerned about the potential impact of this decision on the company, particularly the fact that he will not be present personally to handle matters that arise. What can he do to alleviate this concern? How will your personal plans impact the company?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Put a stake in the ground. Set a date for the move and work backwards to see whether this is attainable.
  • Have a discussion with the company’s key managers.
    • Empower them to challenge the date.
    • Discuss this as a brainstorm to plan the future and what must be done to get there. Once a plan is established retest the timing.
  • Consider this as a gradual transition. Start 3 weeks here / 1 week there, and gradually transition to 1/3. This will help you to determine how the company performs absent the CEO’s daily presence.
    • Move family but keep a small place here. Start the transition now and figure out balance. Do what is necessary.
  • Have the key managers transition their roles before initiating the move.
    • This will provide confidence that they can handle this transition.
  • As part of the process, look at areas where the company can use more support. For example, is HR up to snuff? What about information services or financial management? Prior to initiating the transition take steps to fill any gaps.
  • Does the company have a formal metrics structure?
    • If not, establish one and in preparation for the transition see how the two managers manage this.

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How Do You Expand into New Markets? Three Perspectives

Situation: A CEO is evaluating a horizontal market development opportunity to markets related to their current market. There may be branding implications. The new opportunity focused on a different sector and can add business unrelated to current customers. However, the new opportunity will stretch current resources and potentially impact current business and service delivery. How do you expand into new markets?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Pros:
    • Because the new opportunity utilizes known capabilities the company should be able to segue into the new market relatively easily.
    • Because the company is already familiar with security and other issues relevant to the new market, compliance should present no challenge.
  • Cons:
    • Consider the impact on company time and resources. Building any new business will challenge current priorities and will require a careful balancing of efforts to assure that both current and new customers’ needs are being met.
    • Build workload and service schedules for both existing customers and the effort that it will take to develop the new opportunity including the time needed to create and build new customer relationships. Take your best estimate of resource utilization for the new effort and double it, then ask whether your current staff and capacity can handle both markets. If the answer is positive, then you can be more comfortable with the decision to expand into new markets.
  • As you evaluate the new market opportunity, look at both anticipated and unanticipated but predictable challenges that customers may face over the next five years.
    • For example, is there misalignment between future challenges likely to be faced and the current expertise and skill sets of managers who will be tasked with addressing these challenges? If so, tailor the sales pitch for new capacities to address these challenges.
    • Are there existing mismatches between products and services currently offered in the new markets, and do proposed solutions help to address these mismatches? If so, there may be significant opportunities in addressing these mismatches across multiple customers within the affected markets.

 

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How Do You Test a New Service Delivery Model? Seven Thoughts

Situation: A company targets mid-sized clients with pricing that is similar to its competitors. They believe that their principal differentiation is their relationship with their clients. The problem is that this is also what all of their competitors claim. They are considering testing a new pricing concept – a monthly fixed fee that will provide a pre-negotiated set of services at a favorable discount, with a weekly presence in their clients’ offices. How to you test a new service delivery model?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • This looks like an appealing concept. With this arrangement there is no clock ticking and the client may view your various services as a more open menu of options available to them.
  • Another company has a similar relationship with their CPA firm and have both enjoyed this and are using more services from this firm.
  • Just a regular presence in the office is worth the retainer.
  • Another appeal is that this allows regular participation in management and Board meetings.
  • Another CEO offers a similar program for her professional service company’s clients and have found it successful.
  • Since there appears to be strong support for this model within the group, what is the best way to implement this new offer?
    • Negotiate an initial monthly rate for a set level of services as a retainer without a clock.
    • Agree to a periodic review and adjustment of services and pricing – perhaps quarterly – based on the time and services that have been provided during the preceding period.
  • How do you sell this program to those within your own company who are skeptical?
    • Try the program with three clients on a limited trial basis and measure it.

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