CEO ADVICE REVISITED

My Simple CEO Advice (30+ years' experience) REVISITED

1) It's the top line. The middle and bottom lines will take care of themselves.
2) It's the people. They eat first. You eat last.
3) Timing is everything, no matter what they say.
4) Listen. Someone is more intelligent than you.
5) Never fire anyone. The marriage is over. Leave. 4 months’ pay not to be here.

Number one, ensuring the business stays alive and grows, is your job. Someone has to be the one who makes sure everyone stays employed, and that's you. It's easy to pass off minding the middle and bottom lines to somebody else if you're doing your job. More executives should be focused on the bottom line. Wrong. Your central line keepers produce the bottom line if you're doing your job and they are doing theirs.

Number two, because you can't do it alone. You need excellent help. It's your second job to care for the people you work with.   As the Marine Corps says, the enlisted eat first and the officers last.

Number three because if you miss a deadline, the business may die. If you let opportunities pass you or don’t make timely procedure changes, it's a matter of life and death. Survival and growth depend on timely reaction and projection. It's not everything in the sense that there is nothing else, but you could be dead if you don't have a perfect understanding of timing.

Number four, because you are the leader. That means you need to be the most intelligent person in the room. But you are not. So you better be listening to others. There is someone in the room who is smarter than you. As a leader, you must surround yourself with brilliant people. You may be a leader, but you are not an island.

Number five because you have better things to do than to play policeman, moral or otherwise. You do not need the distraction of disgruntled employees or lawsuits. You need to move on, as does the person asking to leave. So just do it with the least amount of acrimony you can muster. And be kind. Be generous. Help them move on. Take the High Road.

Above all else, you must be a leader, Marine Corps style. Principle personality/character trait: EMPATHY.

 bill@spriggslawgroup.com