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How
to Act Like a CEO, not an Employee
By Frank L. Bartoe
As CEO, you need to work on the business:
its purpose, direction, strategy, structure, systems,
people, goals, and accountability processes. See the
whole business, not just its parts. Have an aerial
view to know where you want to go and how you want
to shape your business. Instead of shuffling papers
or doing the bookkeeping, decide how to make your
company different, better, more profitable and more
systems-oriented. Think and act like a business architect.
Again, your goal is to design and shape a business
that serves you and works independently from you --
a business that is systems-dependent and not owner-dependent.
You want a business that runs nearly on autopilot
and spits out cash.
As a leader, you need to be more strategic, long-term
focused and less tactical/technical, day-to-day fixated.
If you don’t focus on the entire business, no
one else will. It will just drift or run aground.
So how do you stop thinking and acting like an employee
or technician? Here are eight steps to consider seriously:
1. First, you should change the metaphor in your head
for what it means to be an owner. Regardless of your
industry or size of your business, start viewing yourself
as a CEO, not an employee. Instead of seeing yourself
as a role player, see yourself as a head coach. Effective
owners I know prefer to view themselves as a director,
conductor, facilitator, or captain. Regardless, choose
a metaphor for what it means to be a leader.
2. To help with this mindset transformation, start
referring to yourself as CEO. Put it on your business
card, stationery, etc. Using the term CEO will force
you to see your company as an entity above and beyond
yourself, as a separate and valuable asset that needs
to be professionally managed and optimized. You are
not the business and the business is not you. Spend
time and energy helping to build, improve and optimize
this asset. For example, focus on how to grow sales,
expand your competitive advantage, and increase your
value to customers.
3. Consider that as CEO, you get paid at least the
equivalent of $200 an hour to professionally manage
this separate entity and valuable asset – your
business. Ask yourself before you touch any task,
“Would a CEO do this?” Or ask, “Is
this task worth me doing at a cost of $200 an hour?”
Don’t spend a dollar’s worth of time on
a dime decision or task. Elevate your vision, thinking
and tasks.
4. If you truly buy into your role as a CEO, you should
be willing to give up the urgent, less important,
low-value tasks you routinely handle. Realize that
80% of your results come from 20% of your talents
and activities. Delegate the 80% of your activities
that only produce 20% of your results. Stop doing
the wrong kind of work. CEOs should think, lead and
delegate -- not handle trivial matters. Your job as
CEO is to design/re-design and grow the business;
your managers’ main job is to improve the business;
and your employees’ various jobs are to operate
the business. Here are a few more suggestions:
 •
No longer major in minor things! Don’t let yourself
get distracted by irrelevant, insignificant “stuff”.
•
Don’t let the urgent control your life. Put
your cell phone/pager away more often. Don’t
be a slave to email.
•
Instead of creating to-do lists, start creating not-to-do
lists for you and let go of small things. Eliminate
or delegate the 80% of your activities that produce
so little impact for your business. Share these not-to-do
lists with your team. Put them on notice that you
are getting out of the daily detail (usually their
areas of responsibility) and starting to see and influence
the big picture.
•
Quit trying to manage details and start managing your
people. Guide their focus and priorities, but let
them do the work.
5. Schedule time to think and plan. You must think
deeply about important, strategic matters. Make time
to get away from the day-to-day distractions and focus
on deep thinking, planning, and decision-making. Isolate
yourself to concentrate on big-picture issues. Spend
time alone digesting all the information you are bombarded
with and develop the big ideas to take your business
to the next level of performance. Once a month, schedule
a day away from the office to think and plan. With
no distractions whatsoever, put on your CEO hat and
spend time reviewing and improving your chief asset
– your business.
6. On a daily basis, reserve the vast bulk of the
day to tackle only your top 3 priorities. Selfishly
guard your time and focus. Don’t allow your
employees to disrupt your CEO-oriented priorities
and actions with countless got-a-minute interruptions.
Allowing such conduct creates an environment whereby
your time is not valued and respected. It also creates
unproductive days, a reactive business mindset and
employees that are overly dependent upon you for everything.
Stop these got-a-minute interruptions.
7. Think about CEO role models at large companies
you admire. Those proven CEOs with solid integrity
and ethics. For example, think of the former CEO at
GE, Jack Welch. Read his books and understand his
philosophies, mindset, and strategies. Then periodically
stop yourself and ask, “What would a Jack Welch
do in this case?”
8. Whatever your technical expertise, consider hiring
someone else to handle such technical and tactical
work so that you can escape the stranglehold. For
example, if your background is selling or accounting,
hire a competent sales manager or accounting manager
to manage such day-to-day details. If you already
have such employees on your payroll, then for goodness
sakes let them do their jobs. Get out of their zone
of responsibility.
Frank L. Bartoe
President
The Growth Coach
Driving Success. Balancing Life.
Tel.(419) 438-0598
F.Bartoe@TheGrowthCoach.com
www.TheGrowthCoach.com
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