The Leadership Role Of Every CEO
“Are you the kind of leader the RIGHT kind of people will like to work with?”
Last week, I began a series on The 3 essential roles of every CEO, this is a continuation that begins with the role of the CEO as a Leader.
The Leadership Role Of Every CEO
The job of a CEO begins with a leadership role. The essence of your leadership role as a CEO is to make the organization effective –capable of doing the RIGHT things. An effective organization is one with the right people all occupying the right positions collectively engaged in doing the right things. That is;
‘right PEOPLE + right POSITIONS + right ACTIONS = EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION’
Making the above equation a reality in an organization is the primary task of the CEO as a leader. It is a three-fold task that begins with you the leader. The above equation is ‘what’ you need to do as a leader, as you must have probably noticed, the underlying theme in the equation is the word “right.”
Which clearly captures the whole essence of the role of the CEO as a leader –making an organization effective. I wish these were all you needed in order to succeed in your role as a leader, but there’s still one missing element in the equation that is vitally important. That missing element is YOU – the leader!
Here’s what I mean.
Building a successful business takes the collective efforts of others and not just the effort of only you the owner. It is not a one man show. As bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki rightly observed;
“Business is like making babies, it’s not something you can do all by yourself; it requires the collective efforts of others.”
You see, while no one person (leader) can single-handedly build a great company; one wrong person (leader) can single-handedly bring down a company. How? When you as the business owner begins to think it’s all about you.
This is usually the case with most small business owners. I know you are the owner of your business no doubt, but you also need to understand this fact; before you chose to become a business owner, success was very much all about you and the result of your personal efforts, but now that you’re running your own business; success is all about others and the result of their collective efforts.
A majority of businesses fail largely because of this singular factor, so it’s highly important you understand this crucial point and begin to make the necessary paradigm shift early. The success or failure of an organization depends largely on how well the CEO plays their role as a leader.
As the CEO, your role as a leader demands that you shift your focus from yourself and begin to focus more on others and what you collectively want to achieve. Management guru Jim Colins in his legendary book “good to great” talks about the kind of leadership required to take an organization from being a good one to being a great one; ‘level 5 leadership’.
Here is what he identified as the key trait of a ‘level 5 leader’;
“ambition first and foremost for the company and concern for its success rather than for one’s own riches and personal renown.”
Leadership is about Teamwork
Business is a team sport and only the teams with the best players can win. To build a winning team requires a leader that not only wins but also knows how to lead a pack of winners and make winners out of losers. Winners being who they are don’t naturally like to hang around losers even though that loser bears the title of a CEO.
That you now occupy a leadership position as a result of your CEO title doesn’t necessarily mean you are a leader. Being a leader is much more than occupying a position.
As I pointed out last week in the first article in this series, positions or titles doesn’t make you; functions and duties do. As a CEO in your role as a leader, the bulk of your work is mainly people-centered. Your functions and duties (responsibilities) majorly revolve around working with people and leading them. And when it comes to people, knowing ‘what’ to do alone won’t do the trick.
People are not things. They don’t care how much you know and can do until they know how much you care and make them feel. Therefore, knowing ‘what’ to do is only one part of the story, knowing ‘who’ to become in order to do what needs to be done is the main story.
The real challenge here is gathering the right kind of people to work with as a team, for only the right kind of people can be truly effective –capable of doing the right things. You see the right people are very rare to find or attract because they only submit to the right kind of leadership.
They are not predominantly motivated by how much they are paid; they are mainly motivated by passion and will only follow the right leader whose vision, goal or objective they consider worthy of their commitment and loyalty. You cannot out rightly buy them over; you earn their commitment and loyalty. Figuring how to be the right kind of leader is your main responsibility as a CEO.
So here’s the big question;
“Are you the kind of leader the RIGHT kind of people will like to follow?”
The Right Kind of Leader
Making an organization effective –capable of doing the RIGHT things – is the work of a CEO as a leader. But for an organization to be truly effective, everyone within the organization, including you the CEO as the leader must be effective –capable of doing the RIGHT things.
You are not exempted from the equation just because you are occupying the highest position. In fact, and this is the most critical factor about your leadership role as a CEO, until you the leader is effective, don’t expect anyone else to be effective.
In other words, you must first become the right kind of leader (effective) before gathering the right kind of people (team) and putting each in the right seat (position) all working collectively in the right direction (vision, goal or objective) for the benefit of the entire organization.
You are the missing piece of the puzzle. Without an effective leader, no organization can be effective. So here is what the complete equation will look like with you the leader inside;
‘right LEADER + right PEOPLE + right POSITIONS + right ACTIONS
=
EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION’
Stay tuned to this page and find out what it takes to be the right kind of leader that is capable of making an organization effective by signing up here to receive the latest articles by mail as we continue this exciting series – “The 3 essential roles of every CEO.”
Thanks for reading!
Has your business IQ increased as a result of reading this article?
Kindly share your comments below.
- Published in Leadership, Thought Bank
The 3 Essential Roles Of Successful CEOs
Do you have what it takes to be a CEO?
What are the essential roles of Successful CEOs? A CEO in a very simple term is the leader of an organization. This title is only given to someone who is occupying the highest position in an organization and is solely responsible for the success or failure of the organization.
This means, you are a CEO because of a certain position you occupy (highest management) and certain functions you perform.
As with every position or role, whether in life or business, there are corresponding duties and functions. These duties and functions are collectively called ‘responsibilities’ and they are what clearly separates one position from the other.
Positions are created in order to define and assign certain duties and functions to them. Without functions and duties, positions and roles are useless. A position is determined by its functions.
Being a CEO therefore requires you to carry out certain functions and duties attributed to the position you occupy. Being in that position confers certain responsibilities on you. Success or failure is measured by how well these duties and functions (responsibilities) are carried out. A successful CEO is the individual who performs these required duties and functions exceptionally well.
However, I have realized, especially in our country Nigeria that a lot of people are occupying positions they know nothing about. They simply go about with the “position myth” believing that once they are in the forefront, success is usually attainable. But history has shown time after time that this is not so. Among the many things this article hopes to achieve, first on the list is making you the reader perfectly understand this fact;
“Being a CEO is not about occupying a position (top management) but about performing certain functions and duties (responsibilities)”.
Positions don’t necessarily guarantee success, only functions can. Why? Because where you are (position) is determined by what you do (functions). The moment you stop doing what you ought to be doing, no matter how high above you are, you will ultimately lose that position. It’s only by function that a position is retained.
The 3 Essential Roles Of Successful CEOs
The role of a CEO is a 3-dimensional one involving three major responsibilities. So just as everybody else in your company, you as the boss also have certain key roles in which you have to function. Below is an overview of your work description as a CEO. The whole idea of being your own boss is about to go sour if you are not prepared to do the work that comes with the title.
THE ROLES OF A CEO | CORRESPONDING RESPONSIBILITIES |
Leadership |
Making the organization Effective –capable of doing the RIGHT things |
Management | Making the organization Efficient –capable of doing things RIGHT |
Entrepreneurship |
Making the organization Innovative –capable of doing NEW things |
As you can now see, a CEO is a 3-in-1 person functioning as a Leader, Manager and Entrepreneur respectively. So what does it take to successfully carry out these 3 essential roles as CEOs?
That is a subject for another day; this is just an introduction. Watch out for the part two as this is going to be a series and you need to stay tuned by signing up here! Once you’ve signed up, you are guaranteed to never miss any of our articles because they get delivered straight into your email. SIGN UP TODAY TO GET THE LATEST ARTICLES BY MAIL!
Thanks for reading!
- Published in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, Thought Bank
Successful Branding In 8 Simple Steps
What does it mean to brand?
To brand simply means to position and present your business, product or services in a unique and attractive way so as to communicate the usefulness or value in your business, product or service.
It is a deliberate attempt of making what your business, product or service is and can do known to the prospective market or buyer. It involves portraying what makes your business, product or service unique and also communicating its inherent usefulness.
Branding is a marketing tool, and thus, it is a deliberate act. It’s not something you stumble upon; it’s a thing that is creatively developed. A brand is a living entity. It has its own lifespan, personality, and characteristics. Therefore, if you know you can’t make a difference (be useful), don’t try to be different (branding). The following are what you should know about branding – being different (uniqueness) and making a difference (usefulness).
What’s the essence of being different?
- To communicate your difference (uniqueness)
- To be making a difference (usefulness). That is, to be constantly doing something valuable with the thing or idea that makes you different.
There’s no use being different (branding) if you can’t be making a difference (useful). So here are 8 simple steps to follow in order to ensure your branding makes sense;
8 Simple Steps to Successful Branding
(1) To be different you need to have a message.
Your ability to make a difference lies in how well you are able to communicate that message. This is what branding is all about – finding uniqueness and usefulness in what you do and communicating this to the world or the market as the case may be.
(2) To be different, your message must not only be compelling (emotional) it must also be convincing (logical).
Your ability to strike a balance between these two is what guarantees how much influence your brand will be able to command in the marketplace.
(3) To be different you need to focus only on your strength.
No one ever makes a difference with their weakness; to be different it takes strength. Therefore, while working on being different (branding), don’t focus all your efforts And resources on areas that you are weak – not very good at, rather focus on those areas where you and your organization are naturally gifted and good at. This is because people get things done effectively and efficiently with their strength and not their weaknesses.
(4) To be different, you need to carve a niche for yourself.
Don’t try to do everything by being jack of all trade; you will only end up being the master of none, because you would have succeeded at nothing.
(5) To be different, you have to know yourself well.
You can’t claim to be different when you can’t even point to what makes you different (unique). Being different, like I said earlier is communicating a message; a message of what makes your brand unique and useful to the market. Part of communicating that message entails knowing your product and services well, because this is what the market recognizes as your brand. Product or service knowledge is very crucial in your quest to be different.
(6) To be different, you have to spend money.
Marketing costs money! In order to get the best possible returns on your branding agenda, spend your money where your eyes can see them. Don’t put your money where you can’t easily track it, this is why I said focus majorly on your areas of strength. This is where the brand lies, so this is where you should put your resources and efforts.
(7) To be different, you have to be consistent.
You don’t claim to be different in one area today only to find yourself in another field tomorrow. This will confuse the market you are trying to reach. Let them know what you stand for and be ready to stand there for long. Change when it is absolutely necessary and when you have got enough proof to defend the change.
(8) To be different, pick or choose a ground where you are absolutely sure of winning.
It costs a lot to be different; don’t waste your time, money and effort on an idea that is not likely to sell. Be careful, being different is not the same as being stupid!
While choosing your brand message; that is the message that you will use to make and communicate your difference (brand); don’t pick a message you can’t defend. Be sure to have all it takes to defend that message. Your ability to defend the message consistently is what it means to be a brand.
Ask yourself if you have got the human, financial, material and technical resources needed to successfully enforce that message. Remember, the whole essence of branding (being different) is to make a difference (be useful). So if you can’t or don’t have what it takes to enforce that message (make a difference) don’t bother picking the message (being different); look for another message or wait till when you can defend that message.
Thanks for reading!
Has your business IQ increased as a result of reading this article?
- Published in Marketing, Thought Bank
How To Work And Get The Kind Of Results You Want
“Nothing works by itself. You have to do the work required in order to get the result desired!”
Everyone works, but do we all achieve the kind of results we really want? I don’t have a problem with working; I have an issue with ‘how’ people work. If the process (how) of working is wrong, the outcome (result) can never be right. This series is going to focus on two simple questions;
- On what do you work?
- How do you work?
I’m going to do all my possible best to answer these two main questions through the course of this series. At the end of it, if you didn’t learn how to personally answer and relate these two questions to your private life, please ask all your friends to leave the quality life group or community and also do the same.
After all, what’s the benefit of belonging to a group or community that doesn’t impact your life? Quality Life is no such group or community, if you belong to such group or community; don’t blame the group or community for failing to do its primary assignment–impacting its member’s positively–blame yourself for deliberately wasting your time and cheating yourself.
Now, back to work!
We all know intuitively the benefits of work, hard work, or working hard. Here are some quick reminders;
“He who does not work, should not eat.”
“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
“Work is a vital part of life.”
“Work is how bills are paid and objectives achieved.”
That was the easy part, right? Over time, I have come to realize that “working”, that is; the actual performance of a task, an activity or duty, is not the real problem. The real problem for the majority of people out there is not their inability to work–laziness, although this is true for some people, but rather their inability to prioritize work–focus! Too many of us spend our lives working on the wrong things first.
I work, you work, we all work, but that’s not the point or key to success, fulfillment or greatness in life. The key is not the performance of the activity itself (work). The key lies in our ability to prioritize the activity and organize the performance of the activity.
Two words come into play here;
- Prioritize
- Organize
These two words are what differentiate losers from winners, success from failure. Learning to do them both will help you answer the two questions above; “on what do you work?” and “how do you work?”
Thanks for reading!
Has your business IQ increased as a result of reading this article?
- Published in Entrepreneurship, Thought Bank
How To Celebrate Your Birthdays As An Entrepreneur
How do you celebrate your birthdays as an entrepreneur?
I marked my 26th year birthday yesterday (July 25, 2010) and I’m so sorry I couldn’t invite you all to come and jolly and party with me. I’m sure you can imagine what a party of about 4,515 guests will look like?
So every year because of my inability to invite my online tribes for my birthday, I create and give away a remarkable birthday present that can be enjoyed by everyone anywhere in the world.
I learnt this philosophy from a mentor of mine, Seth Godin who uses his birthdays as a means of making a contribution with his life and gifts. This year he used his birthday to accomplish two great things; (1) He created and gave away an eBook he titled “THE INSURBODINATES” (2) He used his birthday to raise a sum of 50 thousand dollars for the provision of clean water supply for a poor village in Africa!
WOW!
We are all used to getting gifts or presents for our birthdays, while nothing might be wrong with this age long phenomenon, we can create a twist and use it to our advantage as entrepreneurs. Rather than expecting birthday gifts from others as usual (still collect when given, don’t turn them down), but do much more than collect; why not create and give out birthday gifts instead? You see as an entrepreneur everything matters, even how you spend your birthdays!
Nothing must be overlooked or underutilized, every moment, every event and every action counts; nothing must be wasted. As entrepreneurs we owe a greater responsibility to the world; we are nature’s instrument for creation and therefore are custodians of the needs and problems of humanity. They look unto us for the continuous provision of timely, unique and useful solutions to their existing needs and problems. We must never let them down. We are to use everything about us for the common good of all!
The idea is to have each year of your life tied to one very significant contribution you want to make in the world through the use of your life and gifts. I was chatting this morning with one of our naijapreneurs (Made in Nigeria Entrepreneurs); Tolulope Olalekan and I asked her how big was the dream she had for her interior décor company (Rubbies & Sapphire) and she began to list a few goals she had planned for her company. Then I asked when her next birthday was?
With each year of our lives as entrepreneurs we are to use it as a benchmark of how much contribution we are making. The goal could be the launch of a new product or service to your existing line of business, it could be the launch of a new branch network, it could be the diversification into an entirely new industry, it could be the donation of a particular portion of your profit to any charity of your choice, it could be sharing for FREE your products/services to members of any community you like, it could be the sponsoring of one or two students whose parents are incapable of sending to school, it could be the launch of a foundation, it could be throwing a birthday party in a motherless babies home or for the less privileged ones or even your customers!
Whatever it is you choose to do with your birthday the only condition as an entrepreneur is that it must
“MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION THAT WILL HAVE A POSITIVE LASTING IMPACT!”
The benefits of this seemingly minor act can be awesome for your journey as an entrepreneur. Top on the list is that it serves as a source of motivation and self-renewal. What do I mean? There’s something about our birthdays that seems to get our juices and emotions high. We are all familiar with the excitement that comes with it. The idea is to convert all that excitement and emotions into a positive energy for creation. You would be amazed at how much difference things can seem with your birthday around the corner.
My birthday present to the world this year had been in the making since March when I first conceived the idea. Somehow it has been dragging due to one thing or the other; in fact I had to redo it all over again like three times before its final look. But guess what? As soon as my birthday drew closer and I realized I hadn’t thought of my gift to the world, it suddenly hit me; “why not use this as your gift?” In summary, I got the gift finished by 3am during the early hours of my birthday!
The question is this; “what had been keeping me since March?” I hadn’t found enough motivation to pull it off. But the mere thought of my birthday and the gift I had to give to the world, was enough motivation to pull it through. A wise man once said a very long time ago;
“If you’ve found a WHY (reason/motivation) and it’s big enough, the HOW (action/passion) will emerge!”
It’s your birthday after all; why not use it wisely for the common good of humanity? Rather than sitting and waiting for gifts, be the GIFT! Make a contribution that will forever be remembered long after your birthday has gone.
This website is my 26th birthday gift to the world – www.naijapreneur.com or www.9japreneur.com
I hope it makes the difference it was created for!
Thanks for reading!
How have you used your birthdays to make the world a better place? Kindly share your thoughts and comments below
- Published in Entrepreneurship, Thought Bank
How To Know What Item Should Be Counted as a Tax Exemption
Tax season brings many challenges for most businesses. The tax law changes on a regular basis and these changes take place at local, state, and federal levels. Keeping up with tax law can be a full-time job, but you may not be able to afford to hire a tax attorney or tax consultant.
In that case, it’s all up to you. You have to determine whether the items that you purchase count as valid business exemptions. Here are some things you can do to determine whether your purchase falls into this category.
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The Purpose of the Item
One of the first things of the IRS looks to is the purpose of the item. That initial evaluation typically revolves around the general perceived purpose. For instance, freelance writers can deduct novels and movie tickets because these are seen as tools of the writing trade. But they may find themselves at an increased risk for auditing because the perceived purpose of these items is typically pleasure rather than business.
Many writers actually refrain from claiming such purchases as deductions for just for that reason. For eCommerce store owners, product samples may fall into this category as well. Luxury items may be classified as a business deduction in some eCommerce store industries, but that deduction runs the risk of being perceived as pleasure rather than business.
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What the Item Will Actually Be Used For
In addition to the actual and the perceived purpose of the item, the next question is what will be item actually be used for. In some respects, this question is one of the most important. According to the IRS, it doesn’t matter what the purpose of the item is if you don’t use it for that.
One of the more common instances is a computer that is purchased for work. The computer itself is up to all of the industry specs, ready for shipping Australia, and it’s perfect for the job. However, the business owner uses the computer for games most of the time rather than work. The actual use for games, rather than its stated purpose, will be the controlling factor in this instance.
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Evaluating a Mixed Situation
In some cases, you may find yourself in a mixed situation. The work computer is one of the most common instances of a mixed situation because many eCommerce store owners and entrepreneurs use business equipment and personal equipment interchangeably throughout the day.
However, according to the IRS, electronic equipment like this must be specifically and wholly for business. Even playing Angry Birds will remove the business status on the item. In other cases, such as improvements to a home office that benefit the house as well, the deduction may be prorated according to the percentage of it that benefits the home office itself. Often times, if you have a mixed situation, you should look up the item on the IRS website to see if they have specific instructions for how you should estimate the value.
Taxes can be quite complicated to figure out, especially when you are considering business exemptions. Remember that the purpose of the item will help determine whether or not you can deduct it, though what you actually use it for will trump that. In a mixed situation, your best bet is to actually look the item up on the IRS website. However, most electronic equipment and the like must be used only for business.