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Archive for January, 2011

Jan 25

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What Should Be the CEO’s Job?


As a business owner, do you wonder what your job is as CEO? Once your team reaches 10, 20, or 50 employees, what should you focus on? At what point do you let go of the day-to-day operations and transition to a leader?

Last Friday, I moderated a roundtable of business owners who shared their most pressing issues. After listing common challenges like sales growth, building a management team, work/life balance, and reducing complexity in their business, the group decided that the underlying issue in the room was making the to shift to being, and acting like, a CEO.

The following is a transcript of the flipchart notes from the conversation, which generated thoughtful questions, proven strategies, and the starting point for a CEO’s job description.

I hope this brings some value to aspiring and practicing CEOs of small, growing companies.

Roles of the CEO

  • To keep the business going and customers happy
  • Hiring the right people, having standards in place, training, control systems, and holding people responsible, getting people to buy into the vision
  • Vision, creating overall picture of company’s success
  • Protect the company and nurture it to grow
  • Provide vision, energy, inspiration, and motivation to others
  • Leadership and facilitation of strategy

Questions to Ask When Transitioning to a CEO Role:

  • What is the organizational structure?
  • What type of documentation exists to replicate the work of the company?
  • What defines “poor performance” and what are the implications?
  • Have you done financial modeling to get to where you want to be?
  • Have you defined the responsibilities of the CEO position?
  • Do you have the resolve to transition to a CEO role?

Proven Strategies & Lessons Learned in Transitioning to CEO

  • Relinquished literal or figurative “ownership” of company – stock, day-to-day operations, customer relationships, etc.
  • Needed to train people properly
  • Got rid of the arsonists who create the fires
  • Realized that 95% performance was still an “A”; things didn’t have to be perfect
  • Discovered importance of hiring on character and enthusiasm
  • Clarified, systemized, and reinforced
  • Removed emotion and judgment in favor or objectivity and numbers

Jan 19

Three Lessons from the Trenches


I recently started a weekly column for Crain’s Chicago Business, focusing on second-stage companies in the area. The premise is to shine a spotlight on companies that tend to fall under the radar: they’re not sexy start-ups and not corporate giants but represent the major driver of job creation and growth.

After opening with an intro piece, my first column featured Lyons Consulting Group, a Chicago-based I.T. consulting firm that doubled in size last year and plans to do the same in 2011. Although that is the only company profile run so far, I’ve completed four interviews and, in that time, have begun seeing some common threads.

Without letting the cat out of the bag on the other three, I figured I could share some important takeaways that any business can learn from. You won’t find any of this shocking but I think it’s helpful to see that these firms – all of which were started before the recession, got hit hard by it, survived, and have been growing since then – have specific things in common:

  1. They all focus on cultivating their culture. Not just the cliched “our people are our greatest asset”, but the way employees drive the company, participate in decision-making, suggest workplace improvements, etc. A couple started out with strong cultures, and a couple evolved into them. But when I started digging deep into what has made their companies tick, it wasn’t a great product or terrific customers, it was their culture.
  2. The owners invest in learning. Each interview subject talked about mentors, heros, books, or peer groups through which they learn to get better. As entrepreneurs, all were confident and optimistic about their futures but they were also humble in expressing that they have to keep learning as they stay in business.
  3. They all control costs vigilantly. Driven by the need to survive the recession, all tightened their belts during those years and have kept that same cost-consciousness today. In fact, two or three mentioned the tie-in with culture, stating that their employees help keep costs down and find more efficient ways of getting the work done.

As I continue doing these interviews, I’ll post more common threads and lessons learned.

Jan 13

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Here’s a Challenge for You


Do one thing tomorrow that will positively impact you or your business right away and that you can measure. Here’s 10 ideas but feel free to come up with your own.

  1. Cut an expense that you’ve been debating for some time.
  2. Give salespeople a one-day incentive to close deals (time off, bonus/commission, gift, etc.).
  3. Offer customers a deal that’s great for them (“buy one, get one free”, X% off, etc.) but one that’s also profitable for you.
  4. Clean out your email inbox. Entirely.
  5. Keep calling old customers with whom you haven’t spoken in a while until you get a sale.
  6. Discipline, or let go, that employee you’ve been planning to but haven’t been able to build up the courage to do.
  7. Delete items on your to-do list that have been there for over three months.
  8. Clean your desk and/or office.
  9. Start reading one of those books you ordered and having been staring at for months.
  10. Finish that book that you’ve been meaning to for the past __ weeks or months.

If you actually meet my challenge, pat yourself on the back and brag about it in the comments section!

Jan 12

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Let Your Inner Weirdness Shine


Entrepreneurs are a little weird. They’re quirky and unpredictable. Some of it comes from their unconventional approach to make things happen. Some of it comes from their desire to change the world. And some of it comes from their creativity and ingenuity. Right?

Wrong.

We’re *all* a little weird. The difference with entrepreneurs is that they let their weirdness show. They feel comfortable being who they are at work because it’s their company, their products, their money, and their creation. What you see is what you get. There’s no B.S.’ing, politicking, or maneuvering.

When you work for others, you’re expected to conform to the organization’s culture, standards of professionalism, politics, etc. Those who do, make it. Those who don’t, move on.

I call it the “light switch effect.” When I used to work in corporate America, I felt like I had to turn on a switch when I got to work and become someone I really wasn’t. That made me feel very uncomfortable. And when I left work, I could turn off that figurative switch and go back to being me.

When I went out on my own, I realized the light switch disappeared. I could be myself everyday, all day. Fortunately, as I transitioned into academia, the light switch didn’t reappear, at least not everyday. Universities are wonderful at accepting weirdness but, I must add, they’re more comfortable with faculty weirdness than staff weirdness. But, I digress.

For those of you who aren’t entrepreneurs, find work that takes advantage of your weirdness. Find an employer where you fit in, where you’re comfortable being you, and where other people seem weird. Find a place where your quirks, goofiness, and idiosyncrasies can actually add unique ingredients to the recipe.

For those of you who are entrepreneurs, take advantage of your weirdness. Put your personal stamp on the company, its culture, the way you do things, your mission statement, and how you interact with people. Talk about how weird you, your organization, and your people are. Let that personality come through on your website and in your marketing materials.

No, not all people will respond to it in a positive, constructive way. But you’ll attract people and do business with those who appreciate that weirdness, making for a wonderful workplace for them and you.

Oh, yeah, one more thing. Don’t ever, I mean ever, add that light switch at work.

Jan 10

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Employee Loyalty – It Still Exists


Last Saturday, I began teaching my latest class, the core entrepreneurship course in DePaul’s weekend MBA program. Typically, I have a couple students who are either entrepreneurs or work for small firms. This time around, however, I was surprised to hear that virtually every one of the 18 worked for a mid-sized or large company.

One works for a small, private college and two others work for mid-sized companies with $200 – $250 million in annual revenue. The others work for large corporations like Hospira, Motorola, Accenture, etc.

Later in the class session, we discussed the entrepreneurial revolution that has taken place over the past 20 years. When I asked the students why this revolution had taken place, they mentioned several driving factors including technology, changing lifestyle preferences, increased downsizing and, of course, lower employee loyalty.

I then asked how many are loyal to their employers. Only three raised their hands. When asked why, they said that either the company had treated them well or their current managers had treated them well. On the one hand, I was surprised the ratio was one out of six. On the other hand, I wasn’t at all.

And while this certainly wasn’t a scientific study (although it does reinforce the findings of one well-known scientific study), what really got me thinking was how this played right into the hands of entrepreneurs and second-stage companies.

The more I talk with them these days, the more I’m hearing how they continue to find amazing talent for less than they thought. And I’m also hearing that they’re keeping the good people who, in and after a recession, still have strong job prospects. So that tells me that these professionals who may have taken a pay cut to work for a smaller company are remaining loyal, at least for the present.

So chalk this up as another reason why people should start companies today, or push for growing their existing one. There’s not only great talent to be had but also a higher likelihood that you can hold onto that talent.

Jan 8

Book Recommendation – The Age of the Unthinkable


I recently read The Age of the Unthinkable, by Joshua Cooper Ramo.

The book was recommended by a friend. The exact reason, I don’t know, but my sense is that he felt it would open my eyes and get me to think. He’s one of those friends who rarely gives me advice, and because I respect him so much, I never question the advice. I just follow it.

In his words, “[The book is] ostensibly about foreign policy, but that’s just to keep folks away. It’s really about the rules that govern everything we do in this new age.”

He was right. And if he wanted me to think, then he got that right as well.

In my opinion, this book is for anyone who is a revolutionary of sorts, a change agent, or is wondering what the future holds. It’s for people who think big, who consider context in everything they do, and love provocative ideas.

In other words, it’s perfect for visionary entrepreneurs.

Jan 6

Crain’s Blog


I’m honored that Crain’s Chicago Business has asked me to contribute weekly to their Enterprise City blog. Starting tomorrow with an intro piece, you can find my weekly post on Fridays.

My blog will be titled “Back on the Radar”, and will feature stories, personalities, and experiences of second-stage companies (and their owners), an often overlooked segment of the entrepreneurial community.

I’d love your feedback along the way.

Jan 6

I’m Posting Every Day in 2011


I’ve decided I want to blog more. Rather than just thinking about doing it, I’m starting right now. I will be posting on this blog once a day for all of 2011.

I know it won’t be easy, but it might be fun, inspiring, awesome and wonderful. Therefore, I’m promising to make use of The DailyPost, and the community of other bloggers with similiar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.

Raman

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