Situation: A CEO is concerned that her company is not as efficient or effective as it could be. Of the key activities where the company is focused, few have any obvious connection to the customer or the customers’ needs. How do you focus on doing things right?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Create a set of cost graphs to parallel the company’s revenue graphs. If these are put side by side, does it indicate that the company is doing some things that add relatively low value and profit? What happens if resources are shifted away from less valuable activity?
• Concentrate resources on doing one profitable thing well. Become best in class at this one thing. This may both increase the value of the firm and help to focus future development.
• Bring in a senior level marketing research person or marketing manager with marketing research experience to determine what the customer wants, how should the company compete, and what current customers may be willing to pay for its software.
• Strengthen the primary product – it represents 90% of sales. This is where the company has the best understanding of both its customers and the market. Look at what it takes to become enterprise wide with the company’s largest customers. Expand vertical capabilities and build $1 million accounts to $5 million a year.
• The company already has a diverse group of clients, many of whom are huge.
  • How deep is the company in each of these clients? It may be easier and less expensive from a sales standpoint to go deeper into these clients than to bring on new clients.
  • Look for ways to make current $1 million clients $5 million clients by selling what the company currently sell to more of their divisions and locations.
  • The key to executing this strategy is to listen closely to what clients’ needs are and adjust or customize the offering to better meet their needs.
• Focus on solutions and reduce the cost of solution implementation. Consider becoming more vertical in one key implementation and become the best at that.
• Create a relevant framework for the company’s strategy. For what purpose is it necessary to do the right thing? If the purpose is to exit in 2 to 3 years, this yields a very different strategy than if the objective to dominate the company’s market in a 5 to10 year period.

Situation: A new CEO has just taken over at a well-developed medium-sized company? He will be a first-time CEO. The principal concern is how to introduce himself to the staff and customers. He believes that first impressions are critical and wants to get off on the right foot. How so you position yourself as the new leader?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Proactively engage both staff and customers in a dialogue about the direction and potential of the company. Focus comments on positive opportunities. Demonstrate a fresh sense of excitement and energy. Both staff and customers will be looking for a leader who shares their excitement. Demonstrate good listening skills.
• There are a number of good books on leadership. Look for a title and theme that is appealing. An important point is the need to “market” yourself to both staff and customers.
  • Develop a list of hopes, desires and needs for the company. Add to this list based on what is heard from staff and customers.
  • Look for synergies between your and their hopes and desires. Create a “launch campaign” around these synergies.
  • This will position you as both an essential member of their team, and as a leader that others will want to follow.
• Find a mentor. One who has deep experience with the role of “new Leader”. Seek their advice and counsel. Use them as a sounding board while developing a campaign for “Operation New Leader”.
• Remember that both the company and the new vision are just plans and may require flexibility.
• Ask others – particularly mentor and staff:
  • What is the model that they see? What are the key objectives that the company should accomplish during the first year?
  • What niche do they see the company aspiring to fill? From this may come insights into underdeveloped opportunities that the predecessor failed to leverage. Also, an opportunity to gain key allies within the company.
  • Focus discussions on what will bring increased value to the company.
• While speaking to others, listen for their questions about the role of the Leader. This will present an opportunity to define the Leader role by addressing their needs as you transition into the new position.

Situation: A first-time CEO is curious about the experience of others regarding social or personal interactions with employees at work. At previous companies, outside of company picnics or similar events there was little interaction between top staff and employees. Do others observe similar practices? What are appropriate guidelines for social interactions at work?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Consider the following cases:
  • Case 1 – even though individuals may be friends outside of work, they often do not engage as “friends” at work. There is a different role structure at work.
  • Case 2 – if, based on history, a CEO and employee have had a close relationship outside of work, the CEO should not show favoritism toward this individual at work. It is important to preserve a veil of trust with the other employees; apparent favoritism will disrupt this.
  • Case 3 – a CEO may have lunch with employees, to build relationships and keep tabs on the company atmosphere, but other social activity outside of work should be handled cautiously.
• There is a natural distance between any employee and those individuals who evaluate or review them or decide on promotions. The individuals have a power over the employee that prevents them from approaching each other as true peers.
  • Because of this natural barrier, it is inappropriate to force social or personal interactions. The best option is to make sure that the employees know that the boss cares about them, has their interests in mind, and shows an interest in them and their families.
  • It is important to take advantage of opportunities to demonstrate to employees that the CEO is interested in them.
• The situation is different between managers and their teams. Teams function on the basis of relationships and trust. If the CEO is invited, it is appropriate to attend team or department functions. Observe and learn from these interactions with the others. Most of all, listen actively, and patiently allow the interactions to mature. Don’t force things.

Situation: A medium-sized company has just been acquired. A long-term employee has been named CEO of the entity. During his tenure with the company, he has established solid relationships within the company and is well-respected. He understands that he is no longer a co-worker but is now CEO. How does he best position himself to both employees and to the acquirer? How do you position yourself as the new leader?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Proactively engage the team in a dialogue about the direction and potential of the company. Focus comments on the positive and the potential of the firm and the combined entity. The acquirer is bringing a new sense of excitement and energy to the firm. They will be looking for key leaders who share their excitement.
• Market yourself to the new owners.
  • Develop a list of hopes, desires, and needs.
  • Dialogue with the acquirers and learn their hopes and dreams for the combined entity.
  • Look for synergies between your and their hopes and desires. Create your own marketing campaign around these synergies.
  • Position yourself an essential member of their transition team.
• Select a mentor from the acquirer. Actively seek out their advice and guidance. Use them as a sounding board as you develop your campaign as new CEO.
  • The new organization is now just a plan and may be very flexible.
  • Ask acquirers about the model that they see. What are their key objectives for the first year? What niche do they wish to fill buy acquiring the company? As the key liaison between the company and acquirer bring value to the transaction.
  • When speaking to them, listen for their questions of how they see you fitting into the organization. This will present an opportunity to define your role by addressing their key needs during and after the transition.
• The same suggestions apply to an individual receiving a promotion within the same company.

Situation: A company just acquired a remote office, including a team that has worked together for years. The manager has 20 years of experience. During the early weeks working with this office, some challenges have developed, specifically resistance to the new reporting relationship. Meeting schedules have been adjusted to accommodate the manager. The principal concern is buy-in from manager’s reports. How do you manage a remote team?

Advice from the CEOs:

• From the discussion, the remote manager has been getting disparate and sometimes conflicting direction from several different people at the home office.
  • Meet with home office team. Develop a consistent set of expectations and priorities so that the Manager is not struggling with different directions from different people.
  • Consider that in the coming months there will be two business phases:
    • Phase A: Business and client transition to the new ownership.
    • Phase B: Client maintenance and business expansion.
  • Different strategies and objectives will be needed to address each stage.
  • Ask for input from the home team on how best to achieve these strategies and objectives.
• Have a discussion with the remote office manager.
  • Explain Phases A and B and the focus of each phase.
  • Expectations will be flexible during Phase A as business is transitioned.
  • In Phase B the focus will be on Team procedures and development.
  • Listen to the remote office manager for her thoughts and suggestions on the strategy for each stage and how her team will best meet expectations.
• Similar advice applies to working with remote managers and employees, a situation that has become more common following the COVID Pandemic. Listen to their input and ask for suggestions as how to best achieve their objectives.

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Situation: As his company grows and adds new employees, a CEO wants to improve his skills working with employees as well as managing time when employees come to him with suggestions or issues. Occasionally there is confusion between what is said and how his directions are interpreted. How do you improve communication and people management skills?

Advice from the CEOs:

• How can one improve conversational skills when meeting others, breaking the ice and establishing a conversational relationship?
  • The easiest way is to ask benign questions. How was your weekend? How are you doing? Actively listen to what they say.
  • Remember their responses. Probe more deeply to prompt them to go into more detail. Show an interest in them. Most people love to talk about themselves and their experiences.
  • If they in return ask about you, give them a pleasant but brief response, and return with a question about them. This is like a tennis volley – keep on returning the ball.
  • The important point is to show an interest in others, and to improve the ability to recall what they have shared. Don’t cross personal boundary lines of what is “too personal.” Others will appreciate this attention and will warm to you.
• If the concern is confirming understanding, start by repeating what you hear and confirm your understanding before responding.
• Some individuals come into the office, plant themselves in a seat and just chat to waste time.
  • When one of these individuals comes into your office, stand to greet them with a smile and a friendly question of how you can help them. Do not sit down. Remain standing as long as they are in your office. This will naturally shorten the conversation and prevents them from “settling in.”
  • When you stand up, smile and greet them with a friendly question you are not putting them off. In fact, you are giving them more attention than they have received in the past. As a result, while preventing them from settling in, this is being done in a way that shows them respect.

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Situation: A CEO has a challenge. While a key employee does excellent work and has fresh, new ideas, he can be overly protective of these and how they are implemented. The result is that conversations often become combative. How can the CEO better lay out alternatives and improve these conversations? How do you improve communication with a key employee?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Have a conversation with the employee about communication and competitiveness.
  • Be honest. Acknowledge your own combativeness during previous conversations. Discuss and develop alternatives to avert this in the future.
  • If future communications take the same turn toward combativeness, be conscious. Admit what’s happening and shift the tone. Keep the conversation civil.
• When this employee offers an idea, listen and repeat the idea first to confirm that that was said was understood.
  • Ask questions to clarify specifics of the idea prior to offering a different perspective.
  • When offering an alternative, ask for the employee’s thoughts on that perspective and whether this would complement or conflict with his idea.
  • The objective of the conversation is to develop alternatives which will benefit the company and its operation. Keep the focus on this.
• Take some time and sketch out your own thought process before responding to his proposal. Ask for some time to consider this, if necessary.
  • Repeat his words and objective as you heard it and ask whether you heard correctly.
  • Identify any challenge that may arise implementing his suggestion, and ask whether he sees the same challenge. Could his suggestion be tweaked to avoid this challenge.
  • Present another alternative only after the previous steps, and ask what the employee thinks about this alternative. Work together to design and decide on the appropriate solution. Assure that he receives credit for his idea.

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Situation: Given current uncertainty about the future of the economy, a CEO wants to assess team morale. In the past, as the company grew, she received lots of input on how people were feeling about their jobs. As the company has grown, she no longer receives this. What can she do to gather more input without alarming people in the process? How do you assess team morale?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Find opportunities to spend time informally with your employees. Talk to them one-on-one or in small groups in the lunchroom or while getting tea. Organize, or have others organize company events where individuals can be more relaxed and open about their feelings.
• If you have lunch in the lunchroom 3 times a week, and sit with different employees each day. Over the course of a month or a few months you can talk to the majority of them – perhaps several times.
• Ask how they are – family, friends, relations, and their neighborhood. They may be hesitant to talk to the CEO about their jobs, but it is possible to get a sense of how they feel indirectly by asking about family and friends. Listen to what they have to say. Be sympathetic.
• Be open to others. MBWA – Manage By Walking Around.
• Ask supervisors to be your ears. They work with their teams on a daily basis and will have a sense of what is going on and how employees are feeling. They may have good ideas about improvements that the company can make in employee relations.

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Situation: A  CEO wants to increase employee engagement throughout her family-owned company.  Performance is frequently poor, employees sometimes treat each other badly, and employees rarely put out the extra effort that could make a difference. What have others done to turn around a poor company culture? How do you increase employee engagement?

Advice from the CEOs:

• To add some energy, for example to the accounting department, bring in AccountTemps for 3 months to bring everything up to date. This will help to establish a new level of expectation within the company. AccountTemps can also produce templates that will make it easier to stay up to date in the future. This will send a message to employees that the company is willing to invest to create new standards.
• For those who are managing underperforming areas, link their pay to performance.
• Leverage promising young employees by giving them more responsibility in their departments. This may facilitate a shift of resources to areas of the business needing attention.
• Have employees make customer phone calls – to current and former customers – with instructions to listen to what the customers have to say about the company’s product and services.
  • Collect and use this information to foster a customer-oriented mindset.
  • Encourage employees to take pride in the final value delivered (or not delivered) to the customer.
• Consider a second “Founding of the Company.” An event that will wake everyone up and reinforce both the value that they represent for the company and the company represents for them.
• To increase cohesion within the company, create an event to bring everyone together, and help them to see and value what employees share rather than what makes them different.
  • Ask employees to put up photos of themselves at age 4-6. Ask those with children to add pictures of their kids as well. Conduct a contest is to match the photo to the employee.
  • Use special events to build a team focus at work. Examples are a company picnic with a 3-legged race or a movie and pizza at 6:00pm.

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Situation: The CEO of a company is engaged in an important negotiation. There is a debate within the management team regarding the best way to prepare and engage in this negotiation. How do you prepare and engage in an effective negotiation?

Advice from the CEOs:

• In any situation where a decision between two parties is to be decided preparation is critical.
  • Start with the basics. What is the bottom line that the company wants or needs to achieve?
  • Once the bottom line is identified, determine the strategy and what will be required to achieve this.
• The most important question is why an agreement is being sought. What is the objective and what does a win or a win-win look like? How are they different if they are?
• When meeting with the other party, listen with understanding.
  • Start by establishing norms to govern the discussions. These may include: one person speaking at a time, being up-front about objectives and positions, and the length of the discussion.
  • Avoid the distraction of thinking about the next move – know the possible moves in advance as well as the conditions and consequences associated with them.
  • Be prepared to tell the story of where the company wants to go any why the goal is important for both parties.
• Good decisions between parties are based on trust.
  • Be trusting until given a reason not to be.
  • Point out items or statements that challenge trust and ask for clarification.
• A Peer-to-Peer approach is the best alternative.
  • Look for equal give and take. Keep the conversation and negotiation balanced.
  • Don’t start with your real bottom line. Ideally, work with the other party in give and take until it is achieved.
  • Be willing to walk away if the discussion won’t fulfill the company’s needs; but if this is necessary, do it courteously. Leave the door open for possible future opportunities.

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