If not the CEO, then who?



Nothing impresses me more than to see the successful implementation of a grand plan.

Some examples that come to mind are:
  • The D-Day Invasion
  • The moon landings
  • Nuclear powered submarines
  • Epic movies (e.g. the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Trilogies)
There are thousands of other examples you and I can think of (architectural achievements, building an aircraft carrier, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, etc.), and what’s common in all of them is a singular goal and intricate planning to achieve that goal.

So, here’s the question: why do SO many of us disregard this key tenant of great success when it comes to our businesses? Oh sure, we may apply that kind of rigor into the work that we produce for our clients, but why not for our businesses?

Don’t our businesses require that? Without a vision and an execution plan (commonly referred to as a strategy), how do we know where to allocate our strategic capital? Is it just an idea in our head? How’s that working for you so far?

TAKE TIME TO PLAN! Busyness is one of the greatest enemies of business, because it keeps leaders away from leading. Someone has to know where the business is going, why it’s going there, and what has to happen in order to get there. That takes time, and if you aren’t doing it…who is? Isn’t it the CEO’s job?

Here’s the simple plan we suggest:
  1. Schedule an all-day planning retreat for yourself, ideally with a facilitator and a group of other CEOs.
  2. Spend at least 15 minutes every day using the plan you developed to think big picture. Every Friday, spend 30 minutes, and then every 4th Friday, invest 2 hours.
  3. Every 90 days, go back through the all-day planning retreat.
If you need someone to light a fire under your backside to make it happen, this is what we do best, and we do it every day around the globe with tens of thousands of CEOs. Give us a call or just e-mail us to discuss your situation.

Ingar Grev

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