Leveraging Down for CEOs
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
If you desire to become a successful leader at any level, much less a top CEO, it will be essential for you to master the art of leveraging down. The simple truth is that all great leaders are highly skilled in matters of delegation. Think of any top performing CEO and you’ll find that to the one, they possess an uncanny ability to focus on highest and best use activities. While most executives that have reached the C-suite level understand the importance of scaling via delegation, far too many CEOs struggle with the effective implementation of the concept. To this day I’m amazed at how many CEOs still own tasks, roles, projects, and responsibilities that should be delegated to others. So, in today’s post I’ll share two a few tips on deciding which tasks, and to whom, the art of delegation should apply…
I read an interesting post last night by Dan Rockwell (
Regardless of your station in life, both what you say, and how you say it matter…It matters to an even greater degree for those in positions of leadership. Leaders simply don’t have the luxury of choosing their words in cavalier fashion. Whether in written or oral form your vocabulary matters. Few things make an impact, or lack thereof, like the words you allow to flow from your lips or from your keyboard. Even when you think they don’t, people really are listening to what you say, reading what you write, and making important decisions about you based upon your choice of words.
Time; it’s the only thing we all have in common, yet it’s how we choose to spend it that defines and differentiates us as individuals. Even though time is a key success metric, I am always amazed at how many leaders don’t manage it as such. Time is indeed a precious and finite commodity, and those executives that manage it wisely are those that achieve the greatest results. Show me an leader that doesn’t leverage time to its highest and best use and I’ll show you a leader likely to be replaced by one that can. In today’s blog post I’ll examine the value of time.
“Finding The Zone” is a concept that most athletes are familiar with, but what about CEOs? We’ve all heard the sportscaster refer to an athlete as being in “the zone,” and so my question is this: “How do you find your performance zone as a CEO?” or better yet, “How do you find and remain in the leadership zone?” What respectable chief executive wouldn’t want to function at their best more often than they currently do? Wouldn’t it be a marvelous thing to be able to place yourself in the zone when needed? In today’s post I’ll provide some tips for CEOs to help them be successful in Finding the zone…
To restructure or not to restructure? That is the question that many a business is forced to ask at some point during their life cycle. The mere discussion of corporate reengineering can cause fear, anxiety, and in some cases even panic. This is so much the case that some CEOs will avoid restructuring initiatives at all costs. There are even some business theorists that warn against undertaking complex restructurings because of the great risks involved. My question is this…since when have fear and avoidance become prerequisites for success as a CEO? Give me real leaders who possess courage, vision, and a bias toward action, and spare me the timidity of mediocre managers posing as leaders. In today’s post I’ll examine the benefits of, and the need for corporate reengineering…
If you’ve ever watched an episode of NBC’s “The Office” you know exactly what an unproductive meeting looks like. So my question is this: Why are so many meetings a total waste of time? Meetings for the sake of meetings are a huge pet-peeve of mine. Over the years I’ve found that you can tell quite a bit about a person by how many meetings they call or attend. I have found the most productive people call very few meetings, and rarely attend meetings they don’t call. Whether meetings are held at the board, executive, management or staff levels, or whether they are small project related meetings or large company-wide meetings, the same basic principles apply to making meetings effective. In today’s post I’ll provide you with some basic do’s & don’ts that will help you get more out of your meetings.
Regardless of where you are in your life and your career, I can promise you one thing; you will consistently be faced with challenges and obstacles along the way. You will face physical, mental, financial, relational, and resource challenges among others. Instead of beating yourself up or giving in, it is critical that you develop the ability to learn from setbacks. In today’s post I will take a brief look at the beliefs that cause some to succeed where others fail. In a nutshell, dealing with barriers, obstacles, and setbacks requires both attitude and aptitude. So my question is this; Do you have the skills and perspective to thrive under pressure and to succeed, or will you implode when faced with a challenge?
After my last post “