Do you know what keeps your CEO up? How about accelerating your career progression? Do you run your own business and feel overwhelmed? Today I want to share three thoughts you need to embrace to act like a CEO, so you can advance your career or feel more comfortable leading your business.
I subscribe to a few newsletters. There is one that I particularly enjoy. It’s David Cancel’s – CEO of Drift, and he always shares excellent content. This week’s note is titled: “A CEO only does 3 things”. In it, he shares how his role as CEO changes each year and how if he’s doing the same thing over and over, it means his company nor him are growing.
There is a quote he refers to from Fred Wilson (a partner at Union Square Ventures) that caught my attention and inspired this post:
“A CEO does only three things. Sets the overall vision and strategy of the company and communicates it to all stakeholders. Recruits, hires, and retains the very best talent for the company. Makes sure there is always enough cash in the bank.”
And while David adds a few extra – and very valid – things he does as a CEO, today I want to focus on those mentioned above. Specifically, what do they mean if you are growing your career, regardless if you desire to move up the ladder to an executive position or lead your own business.
I like this quote because it tells us what things keep our leaders up and allows us to reframe our thinking to think and act like a CEO.
Here are three thoughts you need to embrace to act like a CEO:
- Understand and champion the vision and strategy of your company.
- Contribute to creating a fantastic culture to ensure you attract and retain the best talent.
- Treat the company’s money as your own.
1) Understand and Champion the Vision and Strategy of your company
If your company’s vision and strategy are not clear, then I would argue: “Why are you working there?” or “Why did you start this business?.” Your values must align with your company’s purpose. That’s because you need to be a champion of that vision and strategy. Here are few ideas that can help you:
- Be a facilitator, so everyone aligns around the company’s vision and strategy.
- You need to clearly understand the vision, how the strategy supports that vision, and your role contributing to that strategy.
- If that’s not clear, it is your responsibility to ask and provide feedback around any lack of clarity around it.
2) Contribute to Creating a Fantastic Culture to Ensure You Attract and Retain the Best Talent
According to a Gallup analysis, when companies persuade the top 20% of candidates they pursue to join them, they achieve significant productivity increases (+17%), profits (+21%), and a substantial decrease in turnover (-59%). Therefore, it is no wonder that CEOs focus a lot on attracting the right talent.
How can you contribute to attracting and retaining the best talent to your company? By creating and fostering a great culture. You can do this by:
- Ensuring you and those in your team align around the company vision, strategy, and current priorities.
- You are setting and demanding clear expectations of you, your team, and others.
- Praising and thanking profusely and publicly, critiquing constructively and privately.
3) Treat the company’s money as your own
As stated above, one of the things a CEO must do is ensure there is always enough cash in the bank. In that case, our role is to be fiscally responsible with the company’s money.
There are many ways to achieve this, here are three:
- Know who owns the budget you are spending from, and understand how to use money from that budget, so you know how to articulate your needs clearly.
- When planning and budgeting, be transparent about your and your team’s financial needs. Don’t understate your needs. Few things are more detrimental to your credibility than continually spending more than what is allocated. Don’t do the opposite and overstate your needs either, as you will negate resources that others can use.
- Follow your company’s procurement process and rely on the people who know how to purchase products and services you or your team will need. Because that way, you guarantee that you are acting in the company’s best interest. If there isn’t a procurement department or a formal policy, establish one for yourself or your team that considers consistency and your company’s best outcomes.
If you embrace these three thoughts, you will demonstrate strategic thinking. And more importantly, you will make tangible contributions to your company and advance your career.
All the best,
Jorge