Top Management Story

Writen by Patrick Gray

Gone are the days when the names of a company's top leaders filled less than half a page of the annual report. The traditional executive leaders, the CEO, CFO and COO have a growing crowd of so-called officers jockeying for spaces in the executive parking lot. The Chief Information Officer, currently a fixture at most companies was just starting to get settled when CSOs, CCOs, CTOs, CROs, CMOs and myriad other C-something-Os have started jockeying for room in the executive suite.

This small army of execs can be broadly divided into two camps: strategic and operational. There is a valid case that the latter should not even be included in the C-suite. Positions like a Chief Security Officer provide no quantifiable benefit to the corporate bottom line, and although often masking it under the strategy moniker, a "corporate security strategy" is merely a set of policies and procedures to prevent catastrophic events. Similarly the Compliance, Risk, Disaster Planning and other positions are focused on producing operational plans to cover various risks. It is amazing that government regulations and environmental factors (terrorism, weather, etc.) have generated such fear and commotion as to spawn positions at the same level, in name if nothing else, as the CFO and CEO.

The CEO and CFO have long been the keepers and implementers of corporate strategy. They ultimately determine the markets and customers to serve, the product mix that will best serve them, and the resources required to effectively do so. The COO in most organizations also applies that strategy to the internal workings of the company, delivering an operational strategy to meet these three imperatives.

The CIO however, teeters between the two camps. In all too many organizations, he or she is strictly operational. Someone to develop a technology "plan," and ensure it is delivered as cheaply, quickly and quietly as possible. Much like the new generation of C-something-Os, this type of CIO should be fired, or at best demoted to a line level manager. Keeping the networks networking and the servers serving is neither strategic nor worthy of the perks and compensation of a C-level executive. If you find yourself avoiding meetings with the CIO for fear of being regaled with tales of SOAP, XML, SAP and other esoteric technologies, or look at his or her organization as a "necessary evil" and cost to be minimized, by all means, show him or her the nearest exit and find an accountant with some tech acumen to lower your IT costs by swinging the proverbial hatchet.

While a Chief Compliance Officer ultimately driving corporate strategy questionable if not downright laughable, there is room for the CIO that drives and delivers corporate strategy. In the competitive marketplace, technology that facilitates deep knowledge of markets, facilitates operations and exposes costs can be a true competitive weapon. While many companies purchase the latest analytics software, the difference between a spectacularly successful implementation and an expensive disaster is often the CIO. The strategic CIO sees the technology as an enabler of strategy. Whether that strategy is enhanced management reporting, new operational efficiencies or targeted, cost-effective customer relationships, the business processes the will deliver the strategy are at the forefront of their mind not the technology that will help drive the objective.

Writen by David Meyer

Each year many people create a list of resolutions designed to help them improve their lives. As Business Leaders, we also need to take a look at our business lives and find ways to improve ourselves.

Here are 10 resolutions that will help our Business Leaders and Managers move forward.

1. Line up the organizations goals with the goals of the customers (internal or external) Now is a good time to make sure that your goals and objectives for your organization are not only SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Measured) but that they are the RIGHT goals for your organization. Your goals need to be in synch with both your customers needs and requirements, and your companies direction as well. Don't automatically assume that your goals are the right goals. Survey your team members and customers to be 100% confident that your goals are advancing the companies goals as well.

2. Take a two-week vacation with no cell phone, no laptop, and no communications with the office. For some reason, real vacations have lost favor in the last decade. A two-week vacation, away from the office, the cell phone, and your computer will refresh you in ways that you had not thought possible. You will return to the office with a fresh perspective, fresh vigor, and a new outlook that will charge up both you and the people who work for you. One of the keys to a successful two-week vacation is not worrying about the office. And that means a strong "Second In Command" that will allow you to be away and not worry about what you will find when you return.

3. Identify a "Second In Command" and start training them. If you want to be promoted, you need to have your replacement by your side, visible at all levels, and ready to assume your role with no loss in momentum. Being a strong leader means developing a strong team, with quality players all around you and no one is more important to that team than your "Second In Command". Having a strong team member ready to assume your role will not only make you promote able by demonstrating your eye for talent, but will also make your life easier by having someone that you can rely on and delegate significant decisions and work to. Do yourself a favor and find that strong "Second In Command" now!!

4. Read at least one book per month to sharpen your skills. The best way to stay on top of your game and to keep having fresh insights into your business is to continue to "sharpen the saw". Reading a 250 page book is reading 25 pages a day for 10 days. Surely you can make that type of personal investment in yourself. Investing in yourself is the best investment that you can ever make.

5. Put together your own 5-year plan and then start working to make the plan a realityDo you have a 5 year plan for yourself? Or are you living your life day to day hoping that things will work out for you in the end. Success is how you define it, but to achieve that success means focusing your time and efforts on the things that are most important to you. Start by clarifying your dream and then building a 5-year plan to achieve it.

6. Engage the creativity of your organization by encouraging productive debate. Debate in an organization stimulates the thinking of every team member. Many people confuse tranquility in an organization with good teamwork. A team without debate is a team without a soul or deep convictions. Encourage your team to actively debate key issues to stimulate the best ideas.

7. Once each month, ask yourself the following question, "Why should the people working for me trust and believe in me?" Remember how important trust is to your organization and to your team. To be effective, rust must be constantly earned. What have you done to earn your employees trust?

8. Clearly differentiate between blame and accountability in your organization. We all learn from mistakes. But if mistakes in your organization are treated as a pariah where blame must be assigned and then weeded from the organization then your people will never learn from their mistakes because they will never acknowledge any mistakes. Accountability means accepting responsibility for your actions, good or bad. Separate blame from accountability and encourage the thoughtful introspection that goes along with personal growth.

9. Identify the "A" players in your organization and make sure they have long-term plans that meet THEIR needs. Remember to invest time with your "A" players because they are the key to your success. Investing time with them meets not only your needs, but theirs as well. If you aren't thinking about what needs to be done for your best players, then you can expect to lose them. After all, they are your best players for a reason.

10. Say "Thank You" to all of the people who are making you successful. If you are successful in life, remember that you did not get there by yourself. Your staff, your boss, your co-workers, your family, your spouse all played a role in your success. Take the time to thank them for what they did for you.

And here is one last resolution for you to consider. If you read this list and realize that you can't do these things on your own, consider hiring a coach for yourself. Coaching is an investment in yourself that pays dividends in both your personal and professional life.

Dave Meyer (Coach Dave) is a Business and Leadership Coach who believes that "Great Teams Are Built On The Foundation Of Great Leadership. And Great Leadership Is Built On the Foundation of Great Trust."

With over 25 years of successful leadership experience, Coach Dave provides his clients with practical, time tested advice on how to build aand lead a team that produces consisnte, outstanding results.

Certified by the Coach Training Alliance, and the Institute For Motivational Living, Coach Dave is an expert in providing leaders with tools they need to succeed in life and in business.

Visit Coach Dave at http://www.CoachingForTomorrow.com and subscribe to his no cost Monthly Management and Leadership Digest. Each subscriber receives a free report on how to write reports that executives will read and appreciate.

Writen by Marcia Zidle

If I was a fly on the wall what would I hear your employees say? Would it something like this? "They won't allow me to make even the simplest decisions." "The red tape here makes it very difficult for me to do my job." "Management has to sign off on everything; they don't trust me."

A big time waster for managers is micro-managing - paying extreme attention to small details and not giving people the authority to do their job. If it is such a time waster why do so many managers get hooked into micro-managing? Here are some reasons.

Top down mirroring. The CEO or President micro-manages his or her direct staff. The staff then unconsciously adopts the same management style with their direct reports. The practice spreads, or 'mirrors' itself, and becomes part of the culture.

Fear. In today's difficult economy, managers live in perpetual fear that their department better produce or else. This fear drives them to micro-manage, rather than trust their employees to make the appropriate decisions.

A wrong belief. Many managers think success is based on amassing as much power as possible. They therefore do not allow their employees to make decisions by themselves because that would be giving up their own power. However, the more management allows employees to make decisions, the more powerful the entire organization will be.

Here's what can be done to influence managers to focus their time, energy and resources on the important tasks of managing – getting work down by and through others.

1. Start at the top. Hire an executive coach to help the CEO learn to trust and delegate to subordinates. Managers will then likely follow suit with their own direct reports.
2. Ask employees. Use focus groups and individual interviews to learn from employees what decision-making authority they feel they need to do their jobs well. Then communicate this information to their supervisors.
3. Put yourself in their shoes. It is very easy for managers to lose perspective about what decisions their employees really need to make by themselves. Managers should ask themselves, what decisions would I need to make if I were doing that job?
4. Train managers. Delegating and trusting employees are all skills that can be taught. During the training, those few managers that ARE doing a good job of delegating should be asked to share their best practices and successes with others.

Many managers often know in their heart of hearts that they are micro managing. Yet they find it difficult to change old habits. Great leaders are consummate learners and are willing to take risks and try new approaches.

Marcia Zidle, the 'people smarts' coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job ­ to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management. Subscribe by going to http://leadershiphooks.com/ and get the bonus report "61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers". Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks ­ resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs ­ fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.