A CEO's Secret Weapon by Frumi Barr

Author:Frumi Barr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: motivation, purpose, why, ceo, cause, secret weapon, executive leadership, frumi barr, management communications, simon sinek
Publisher: Frumi Barr

Chapter 6: “Assemble Your Who”, talks about the assets you have all around you that can help you make critical decisions.

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Chapter 6: Assemble Your WHOs: Tapping Resources

Whose counsel do you listen to? Many CEOs and business leaders have at least an informal group of wise and respected people from whom they seek advice. That’s what we mean by your Whos.

If you are like many leaders, you employ several sources for advice depending on what you want to know. For matters affecting the company, its financial issues and investors, most turn to a statutory board of directors. For strategic and visionary issues that require issue-specific knowledge, your advisory board is probably a good bet. These boards are usually filled with experts that have broad and deep experience. For both types of issues, wise counsel is fairly easy to obtain.

Where do you turn for the more difficult, personal issues that keep every CEO awake at night? We’re talking here about your Why, your cause and your purpose. These are things that most don’t wish to share publicly while they’re in the development stage. Once you’ve come to your conclusions, of course, your goals and decisions will become a matter of public record. But until then, many CEOs think they’re on their own. That’s a lonely road to walk.

Making good use of a trusted cadre of Whos adds a depth of understanding and insight that would otherwise be unavailable to most CEOs. For these special and intensely personal decisions, many CEOs seek advice from business coaches, their (non-competitive) industry peers, and some of their most trusted team members in the company who have a deep commitment to the Why, cause and purpose you both share.

Should I walk this path alone?

That depends. CEOs and leaders in general are a decisive, forward-leaning lot. They are paid to make decisions and, by God, they will make decisions.

These are the ones who believe no one can possibly understand the intricacies of the issues facing them. If they are going to listen to anyone’s advice, that person had better know more than they do. So far they haven’t found that person and they probably never will.

Often, the enterprise founders are solo leaders; when they started the company, they had no one but themselves to rely on. Things have worked out pretty well since then, so why change the formula for success? Because things change: Technology advances, markets expand and contract, and customers’ requirements outgrow the vendor’s capabilities that refuse to keep pace. That’s the risk CEOs take who chose to exclude outside counsel from their decision making process.

Knowing when you need help

There are a number of tell tale symptoms that a CEO is suddenly at the limit of her capabilities and needs some help. First is the constant feeling of stress. Not surprising, since such insular individuals are constantly trying to reach beyond their grasp. They ask, “What’s happening here? I never used to be at a loss?” Many CEOs under this cloud find themselves losing sleep at night.

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