Ceo

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While leaders often excel in steering their organizations toward success, they must engage in continuous self-reflection to identify and address their leadership weaknesses.

In this article, Work It DAILY experts from Vistage, renowned for their expertise in executive coaching and leadership development, share invaluable insights on recognizing and addressing leadership weaknesses. Read on to tap into the collective wisdom of these experts, gaining practical tips and actionable strategies to enhance your leadership acumen.

Kirsten Yurich


I have a “3-M” policy when it comes to leadership weaknesses. And it doesn’t involve Post-it notes! The three Ms are mindset, mentoring, and measurement.

Armed with these three Ms, a leader will spot and correct their biggest weaknesses!

The first "M" is mindset. A leader who desires to practice leadership at its highest level must cultivate a mindset of humility. We see humility and vulnerability a lot these days and for good reason. The leader who understands they are not perfect may lack key skills and knowledge in certain situations, or is just downright fallible... Is a leader people are willing to follow. This leader will receive honest feedback from those around them. And will engender positive and authentic relationships with key team members.

The second "M" is mentoring. Any person who wants to become a leader or a better leader needs to spend time with people who are further down the path than they are. This could be mentoring or coaching or even a peer group. Placing yourself in a position to get advice, challenge, encouragement, and perspective will go a long way toward finding and closing those performance gaps.

The third and final "M" is measurement. Measurement takes the form of formal or informal and valid instruments designed to give you objective feedback about your skills, preferences, impact, and performance. In this realm, we have to be very careful consumers. There are tools out there that have excellent face validity and no substance. However, I firmly believe that if we want to change something we have to measure it.

Armed with the "3-M" strategy, any leader can improve!

Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.

Mark Fackler


Leader talks about workplace relationships during a work meeting

Identifying weaknesses in yourself, as a CEO, is critically important for growing your company. You are the bottleneck. Since your weaknesses affect the entire company, dealing with them, however hard, is a great return on investment.

Depending on your level of self-awareness, identifying some of your weaknesses can be easy, but even the most self-aware individuals need to look to others for help.

But as a CEO, getting honest feedback is problematic. People defer to you. Talking truth to power is difficult. Employees often withhold the feedback that is the most important for you to hear.

Creating the right culture will make getting feedback on weaknesses easier. You need to create a culture where feedback is the norm and not just positive feedback. You need to model for your staff the right way to provide feedback, both positive and negative. Feedback should be specific and timely, and most importantly, negative feedback should be non-judgmental.

There is a saying, “Praise in public, criticize in private.” I strongly disagree. If you create a culture where feedback to help someone is only done in private, you are missing out on group learning. Failure should be celebrated. Failure talked about publicly will lead to the identification of weaknesses. You can’t fix a weakness until it is identified.

Another great source for feedback is a peer group, a peer group without competitors and vendor relationships. When I joined such a group, a Vistage CEO group, it took just a few months for my fellow CEOs to see one of my weaknesses. They saw me avoiding a tough conversation that I needed to have with a key executive. When month after month they offered advice that I did not take, they realized it was not a lack of knowledge, but a weakness that I needed to confront. Because they were my peers, there was no deferential treatment. There was no judgment, just a desire to help me.

Find your weaknesses. Fix your weaknesses. Don’t just count on self-discovery. Create a company culture where non-judgmental feedback is the norm. Join a peer group. Be relentless. Never stop improving.

Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.

Mike Thorne


Leader talks to his team members during a work meeting

There are three critical areas for CEOs to pay attention to spot leadership “weaknesses.”

The first is “unstructured” self-reflection/assessment. Find some quiet time and think about the things that are always on your mind that you avoid dealing with.

The second is structured. Seek either executive coaching or even behavior therapy. We often need a sounding board to work through whatever we are going through.

The third, and last, is to look at metrics for insights. Employee turnover, morale, general team dynamics. Look for patterns of issues that crop up and dig into why. Deal with them before they become crises.

Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.

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How CEOs Can Spot Their Biggest Leadership …

The 1 Question I Asked A CEO In An Interview That Got Me The Job



Years ago, I was interviewing for a job. As many of you know, when you go through the interview process, you start with the recruiter, and then you meet with the manager, and then you meet with some of your peers—if you're lucky. Then, at the end of the interview process, you might meet with the highest-ranking executives. So in this case, I met with the CEO.

I knew I was doing okay because I was getting through each round of interviews. So, I go into the CEO's office. I don't know what to expect. It's a startup company. He's sitting there in a t-shirt and sweatpants. He's eating cereal and has his feet up on his desk. He says, "Come sit down." Then, he proceeds to interview me while he eats cereal, his feet still up on the desk.

There I am in my suit, answering all the questions, and, finally, he asks, "So do you have any questions for me?"

And I said, "Yeah. What keeps you up at night?"

"What Keeps You Up At Night?"


The CEO stops eating his cereal, looks at me, and says, "I'm sorry. What?"

I respond, "When it comes to this business, what is keeping you up at night about its success? And how will the job that you're considering me for, how will the job that I do, impact the ability to solve for that?"

His face goes blank, he takes his feet off the desk, and he puts his cereal down. My heart starts to pound. Then, all of a sudden, he turns and looks at me. He leans in and says, "Hmm, let me think about that."

Now I'm thinking, "Oh my gosh, I just blew it."

Then, he gets really serious and starts to explain how this job impacts that ability. Then, he starts singing. Eventually, the interview ended and I went home thinking, "What did I just do?"

I got myself a job.

He told them that I should be hired because anyone who understands that their job impacts every level of the organization—and that they should be thinking about that impact—understands the value of the work that they need to do, and would do a good job. That's what he told the hiring manager. And the hiring manager told me.

So that gamble paid off. It not only taught me how important it is to ask questions in an interview but also how important it is to ask the right questions to the right people.

If you want to stand out in the interview process and land the job, try asking this question in your next job interview. It's all about understanding and relieving an employer's pain points.

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The 1 Question I Asked A CEO …



As CEOs ascend to the top of their organizations, many find themselves grappling with a paradoxical challenge: isolation. Despite being surrounded by teams and board members, a CEO can often feel remarkably alone in their decision-making process. This solitude, while not always apparent on the surface, carries significant risks that extend beyond the individual to the entire company.

In this article, Work It Daily experts from Vistage delve into the risks and negative business impact of CEO isolation. Read on to discover how CEOs can avoid isolation and implement practical strategies for fostering greater engagement, communication, and inclusivity within their organization.

Mike Thorne


“Mike, the team just doesn’t get it. They cannot see the big picture. I just need them to be accountable.”

How many times do you hear this or say it if you are a CEO? It's worth asking yourself, "What role am I playing in this story?" You may not like the answer but I am confident it will unlock you, your organization, and, ultimately, your happiness at home, work, and in your community.

So often business owners and CEOs self-isolate themselves without even realizing it. Their heavy workload and ultimate belief that they are wholly responsible for everything is too much burden for one person. There is no doubt they feel without them the stability and overall sustainability of the business won’t work.

This leads to two main outcomes: (1) lack of time to truly reflect, invest time in connecting with peers, and socialize, and (2) fear of delegation. The common issue as a CEO/business owner (fear of delegation) gets overwhelming the longer they fail to ask for help. Employees end up complying but are not committed because they wait for the “boss” to decide. It is a vicious cycle.

A few quick ideas to help:

1. Set boundaries at work. Allocate time for relaxation, exercise, or a hobby. Try one hour a week and grow from there. CEOs need to pay ATTENTION to where their time is spent.

2. Outsource non-core functions. Start to look at your leadership team as competent vs. only you can do it. Find a few things you would love to get off your plate and test a key leader with the work. You will build confidence and it will expand your capacity AND the organization's when you do.

3. Join peer groups. It is crucial to have people who are not involved directly with the business. They can provide a perspective you don’t have but they also “understand” what you are up against.

We often think we need to revolutionize how we operate when a few quick wins will give us the courage and confidence to take action.

Remember reality always wins, always.

Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.

Kirsten Yurich


CEO leads a team meeting about company culture

To be a leader is to be isolated.

Leaders are constantly surrounded by people—yet don’t “BELONG” anywhere, truly.

Yet, an isolated leader is a dangerous leader.

Leaders can be isolated in many different ways. Each way has unique and negative consequences both for the leader and for the business and its employees.

For example, a leader could be isolated from their employees. In this case, they are unaware of the real issues and experiences happening within their company. These leaders think the company culture is great and struggle to understand why they have such a big turnover issue! Or perhaps they are so out of touch with employee needs and preferences that they are making decisions that actually hurt productivity and morale.

A leader could be isolated from reality. They could spend so much time IN the business (working on minutia or micromanaging their team) that they are not looking around corners for the business or paying attention to the market shifts and trends. The business becomes outdated and irrelevant.

A leader could be isolated socially. They are lonely. Leaders don’t have a true group to belong to at the office. Relationships are always clouded by the authority imbalance. You may have to fire a "friend." That will always put a damper on a relationship. This can create some moderate if not extreme depression.

A leader could be isolated intellectually. The pressure to perform and to be "always on" often results in leaders placing their own professional development needs last. This can isolate them from growing in areas both inside their industries as well as professionals and leaders in general. Leaders with limited learning are stunting their effectiveness. They MUST find peers outside their company to learn from. Peer advisory groups are a place to validate their thinking, have their decisions and actions questioned in safe ways (without risking their job, reputation, etc.), and gain the perspective and collective wisdom of other leaders outside their industry.

Will it always be this way?

How can leaders overcome the inevitability of isolation? It’s possible. But it starts in your head.

Clarifying the vision or version of the leader YOU want to be is the place to start. What do you value, specifically? List it out! Your mindset and beliefs about what a leader IS (what she/he creates) will always drive your behaviors and choices.

If you believe a leader never shows weakness or vulnerability, then me suggesting a strategy of creating psychological safety through shared vulnerability with your team will fail because deep down inside you don’t believe that’s how leaders should behave. You won’t be able to do it. So don’t even try.

The strategies you select must align with the leadership values you hold (or those you aspire to hold).

  • Be present with your employees in organic and authentic ways. Show up at events, meetings, and celebrations just to see and be seen.
  • Spend time doing the work that only YOU can do. Evaluate your current contributions to the company—realign as necessary. Delegate those that can be accomplished by others. For top leaders, spend 50% of your time outside the company building relationships.
  • Build a strong social network with people who do not work at the company. Have a hobby, creative if possible.
  • Be active. Exercise and sleep for executives are extremely important. The more cognitively challenging the job, the more important these disciplines are for your performance.
  • Regularly be part of peer-to-peer experiences where you are able to have your thinking challenged and wrestle with important issues with other leaders. Exposure to other ways of thinking enhances your analytical and problem-solving skills.

Isolation is inevitable in leadership. But its negative effects can be mitigated and managed with a proactive approach across the several domains listed above.

Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.

Mark Fackler


Leader dealing with CEO isolation thinks about his business

For me, the problem of isolation started in an instant.

One day I was an employee, the next I was an isolated CEO. I quit a job to voluntarily go down a path all alone and was not sure what was in front of me. My personality, like most founders, has curiosity and risk-taking. There was probably a bit of courage, but naiveté can alleviate the need for courage. What’s the worst that can happen, I lose my house? Who cares.

But as you go down this founder’s path, isolation builds. Alongside the growing isolation are growing problems. The funny, or not-so-funny, thing about the problems is that they grow in number and grow in consequence. The always impending failure has a larger and larger impact not on just your life, but the lives of your employees, clients, and vendors. What goes from "What’s the worst that can happen, I lose my house?" becomes the same problem for others who count on you. The isolation builds and hampers CEO productivity.

Solving the isolation problem for those of us willing to admit that isolation is real was actually quite simple for me. I joined a Vistage CEO peer group. After attending a few monthly meetings, I learned how to be open, honest, and vulnerable. I don’t want to trivialize the act of becoming open, honest, and vulnerable, but when I did, the isolation relief came bit by bit. Yes, it is just a bit of relief, but doing so month after month, for me 12 years, provided enough cumulative relief to ride that scary wave, that isolating scary wave, that felt like it was going to crash down on me at any moment.

With that sense of relief and with the peer group, I learned what was necessary to grow the company and to take care of everyone that was counting on me.

Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.

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The Negative Business Impact Of CEO Isolation

People vs. Profit: The No. 1 Skill CEOs Lack In The New Purpose-Driven Economy



When it comes to running a successful business, CEOs must have the necessary skills to manage both people and profit. Not knowing how to balance these two things is the number one skill CEOs lack in the new purpose-driven economy.

In this article, Work It Daily experts from Vistage delve into the complexities of balancing these competing priorities and offer strategies for creating a sustainable business model that benefits both people and profit. Read on to discover what CEOs should know about people, profit, and success.

Kirsten Yurich


The number one skill I see lacking is the view that people and profit are a dichotomy. I believe that placing them at odds is a detriment to leadership and business success.

People are your profit. Only people will lead you out of a complex situation. Only people will find a better way to do something. And let’s be honest, it's only people that will show up at your funeral.

Pitting profit against people places leaders in the position of having to choose. Having to think there actually are only TWO CHOICES! Saying, "What should I do here, pick people or pick the bottom line?"

What I suggest they do is ask “WHAT COULD I DO HERE?”

  • What could I do that values both people and doesn’t place the business at risk?
  • What could I do that will leverage my people for the sake of the bottom line?
  • What could I do to turn two choices into more?

Thinking about people and profit as connected and not in competition with each other opens more possibilities for leaders.

Often, the dichotomy becomes more real when short-term decisions that promote or invest in people are costly in the near term. However, when taking a long view, many of these same decisions are both good for people and the bottom line. One just needs a wider lens with which to view the issue. Take for example investing in leadership development—a cost often viewed as a luxury over a necessity. McKinsey and others report otherwise. Investing in leaders values the people but when budgets get tight it is often cut.

This is a bias for the short term and an overall fallacy. When the costs of leadership development are compared to the costs of leadership mistakes and compounded by employee turnover costs, development expenses are both necessary and inexpensive.

People are your profit!

Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.

Mike Thorne


CEO/leader communicates with her team

One of the top reasons why CEOs report that they didn’t deliver on their “operating” plan is related to execution. When you dig into it, we also see that there is a disconnect between the business strategy and the people strategy. In most cases, there isn’t a people strategy (less than 50% of SMB leaders say they have one) so fundamentally it says there is value in determining what role people have in delivering the profits you anticipated.

For many SMB owners/CEOs, if their business is growing or making enough money from their perspective, they can brush off the miss and keep going on. For those who want to be the best, it is time to reflect on what is happening with the "P" side of the P&L, and I don’t mean profit. I mean PEOPLE.

According to a recent HBR study, purpose-led companies had faster growth and were more profitable. They averaged 12.5% higher EBITDA growth over a five-year period.

"How do I get there?" you might ask. I would start by going back to the well and reminding yourself of what the purpose you started with OR whoever started the company, what was their purpose? In that reflection time, be honest with yourself and decide if you are living it yourself or not. If not, why not? If yes, ask why isn’t it translating?

Here comes the part where you have to be willing to ask your organization (all levels), your suppliers, and your community and you will be pleasantly surprised at how they observe a lot of what happens and you will be able to take their feedback and perspective and begin to re-engage the organization on its purpose, live it, and engage everyone in it. Call out when people do things that show it, highlight when it isn’t lived, and reward those who carry it forward.

When you get this clarity, make sure that you are building a people strategy into your business strategy. It will allow you to put the foundation in place, and here is the value:

  • Customers, employees, and the community will have clarity and will bring connected ideas, opportunities, and concerns to the forefront to grow and minimize risk. An increase in loyalty, sales, and advocacy (HBR).
  • The employee turnover at first may spike as people opt out, but in a short time it will drop and you will have a more sustainable organization, reducing costs.
  • Decision-making will speed up as people have clarity. Again, this will be an evolution and bumpy at first. It takes time to help people know where and test the guardrails.

In the end, reality always WINS. Always.

Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.

Mark Fackler


Executive/leader/CEO talks to his employees

This month’s CEO Table Talks topic asks the question in relation to people vs. profit: “What is the number one skill CEOs lack in the new purpose-driven economy.”

First, let’s explore people vs. profit. I don’t consider these at odds with each other. In fact, I consider them in tandem with each other. Invest in people and increase profit. Of course, there is a limit to the investment, but a CEO should never stop investing in people. Never, never, never.

I suggest you focus on staff development long before you invest in perks like massages, dry-cleaning, and happy hours. Focus on education. Do not use the excuse that you can’t afford to educate staff. You might not have the cash to pay for formal education like degrees or even seminars, but there are countless less expensive alternatives, from lunchtime learnings to book clubs to YouTube videos. There is always a solution. Investing in your people will 1) make them more productive and 2) give them pride which is priceless.

Regarding the number one skill CEOs lack in the new purpose-driven economy, I’d like to shift to what is the lowest-hanging fruit that CEOs are ignoring. Simon Sinek’s “Just Cause” is a goldmine for forward-looking leaders. In his book The Infinite Game, Sinek defines a Just Cause as a “specific vision of an ideal state of the future that inspires people.” "Inspires people" is the key phrase in the definition. An inspired staff creates a ripple effect or, more accurately, a tidal wave of goodness, from increased productivity to low turnover to high-quality employee candidates.

In this short piece, I can’t describe a Just Cause, so please do your research. What I can do is give examples to inspire you to be part of this movement.

A plumbing company’s Just Cause could be “water for everyone.” A pest control company’s Just Cause could be “no more malaria.” A bank’s Just Cause could be “secure savings for everyone.”

Think of the implication of the bank’s Just Cause. Not only is “secure savings” mentioned, but also “everyone.” The idea that everyone on the planet could have savings is a “specific vision of an ideal state of the future that inspires people.” I would want to work for that bank. I would want to put my money in that bank. I would want to be part of moving toward that Just Cause.

Like I say, this is low-hanging fruit. What are you waiting for? Pick the fruit!

Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.

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People vs. Profit: The No. 1 Skill …



Companies often face tactical issues and adaptive challenges, and leaders are responsible for figuring out how to solve them effectively. The biggest mistakes occur when leaders focus solely on tactical issues instead of taking the time to solve adaptive challenges.

In this article, Work It Daily experts from Vistage discuss and offer insights into how CEOs can identify the root cause of a problem while providing actionable strategies to become more adaptive in their decision-making, cultivate a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, and drive sustainable growth and success. Read on to discover the key differences between tactical and adaptive solutions.

Kirsten Yurich


Vistage Chairs live event

The single biggest error I see in leadership today is leaders solving tactical issues instead of taking the time to identify and address adaptive challenges. Tactical issues are solved for "faster, cheaper, better." The questions consultants and experts help us solve. Whereas adaptive challenges are the underlying systemic root causes that often have us looking at ourselves. And this doesn't come easy. We need time, space, and different perspectives to identify and address adaptive challenges.

How do you know if you have an adaptive challenge? Adaptive challenges are complex, last over time, and often present as ambiguous in nature. Frequently, they will surprise you—and once uncovered, produce the “oh…yeah… that is what’s happening” response. Implementing solutions to adaptive challenges will force leaders and others to learn new ways of doing things; often we will have to look inward at our own ways of being in order to bring about adaptive solutions.

Let’s look at some examples. A leader has several direct reports. Most are performing well. One is an outlier. We could quickly scan that this outlier does not have the same training or experience as the others. Ah! There it is. He/she needs more training or experience to perform better. Problem solved. Um…not so fast. After some deeper investigation and (painful reflection) we come to find out that this outlier is often kept out of the leader’s "inner circle" of thinking and planning. He/she is treated differently by the leader. The result? With less knowledge about what the leader is thinking and expecting this leader cannot perform. And what presents as a tactical performance issue is a more adaptive challenge of bias on the part of the leader.

Adaptive challenges require adaptive leadership. Adaptive leadership is based on the principles of shared responsibility, self-reflection, and continuous learning.

Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.

Mike Thorne


Business leader is adaptive instead of tactical during a work meeting

Learning to ask the extra question as owner/CEO matters. You will expand or shrink the business by being adaptable vs. transactional/tactical. What is that question? I believe it starts with: "What problem are we actually trying to solve?"

Actual experienced example - A sales leader gets a request from a large customer to change the case pack of product X and shares that with operations. Operations pushes back and says, “That isn’t how we do things.” The customer continues to pressure sales and threatens to stop buying product X, and sales and operations go round and round and nothing gets resolved. Given the hybrid/Zoom world we are in, this can become an explosive issue because it is hard to read the body language, nuances, and actual understanding of this situation.

Not asking the extra question goes like this:

Tactical answer - business shrink - loss of volume, customer, stress through the system, management time wasted, and potentially business layoffs as the customer goes elsewhere because not only is this opportunity lost, the customer sees you less as a solution partner and more as a “got to have” only vendor.

Adaptive answer - business expansion - team (customer, sales for client, operations experts, and key decision-makers) meet “live” or get on a call to discuss, "What is the problem we are trying to actually solve?” It gets explained that the customer is trying to manage inventory so they want a smaller case pack (say three vs. six) and the company says we are automated and it is in rows of two so we need even multiples to make it work. The company produces short videos of how the manufacturing process works and then lays out the complexities, adding costs to manually get to three. The customer says, "I get it and I don’t want to spend more and add issues on your end. Can you do a four-pack instead?" Answer: yes.

Benefit - It is a value-added complexity decision by the company to increase revenue/profit exponentially, increase relationships with customers, and present future growth ideas through collaboration. Customers feel heard and appreciated, employees in the “trenches” see the value of adaptive thinking, and, over time, decisions flow to the keys to relationships vs. those with the titles. Employee empowerment.

An adaptive mindset allows you as a leader and your organization to rapidly take advantage of or mitigate risk in an ever-changing landscape. It will transform your strategies, processes, and culture and keep you competitive. Reality matters, always. Ask: "What is the actual problem we are solving for?"

Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.

Mark Fackler


Leader talks to his team members

Tactical vs. adaptive; symptom vs. disease; surface vs. core; fixing problems vs. changing systems. I don’t care what you call it, the problem with many CEOs is they solve too many problems and often the wrong problems.

It is sort of funny to think that as your company grows, the number of problems increases, and yet the CEO needs to learn how not to solve the majority of problems. The CEO needs to learn how to focus on root causes—the disease, not the symptoms.

There were two concepts that I was taught as I ran my company: 1) getting problems off your desk, and 2) always work toward the root cause.

Getting problems off your desk is a mandatory skill to learn. I am not talking about critical problems or emergencies. It’s the day-to-day problems that CEOs are so good at solving. These problems have to be pushed down to the staff. Make them think. Make them work. Tell them how much faith you have in their abilities. Tell them that you want them to grow. By doing this you are not only training your staff but giving them pride. And as we all know prideful employees are long-term employees.

Finding root causes is the second mandatory skill to learn. I use the “5 Why Technique,” very simple and very effective. When someone presents a problem or even a solution, ask them, “Why, tell me more?” Let the question hang, don’t save them. Make them think. Make them work. Keep repeating the question until you feel you have gotten to the core.

For example, your head of customer service asks to hire an additional customer service rep:

Why, tell me more.
Calls are taking longer to answer.
Why, tell me more.
The pumps are failing more often.
Why, tell me more.
Seems that two gaskets are leaking more.
Why, tell me more.
We have a new supplier.
Why, tell me more.
The buyer wanted to save money.

Now we are getting closer to the core problem. It could be process or siloed communication. It could be training. It could be the wrong buyer. It could be the wrong hiring manager. By asking “why,” you peel the onion, you go from the symptom to the disease.

Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.

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Tactical vs. Adaptive: CEOs Need To See …



Effective communication is essential for business success. Therefore, communication failures will have costly consequences for your organization.

In this article, Work It Daily experts from Vistage will discuss actionable strategies for improving communication and why it matters to you, your organization, and the future of your company. Read on to hear these Vistage Chairs explain the impact of transparent/clear communication on morale, company culture, and business results.

Nora Taylor


​When CEOs fail to communicate effectively, it can lead to a range of negative consequences for the organization including lost opportunities, decreased productivity, increased employee turnover, damage to the company’s reputation, and unplanned legal fees. Ultimately, communication failures can cost companies millions of dollars.

Today more than ever before CEOs need to build a culture that places importance on relationships with both internal and external stakeholders. CEOs set the tone of the organization with the culture. If the CEO wants effective communication in the organization, it is essential to prioritize the behaviors that promote open effective communications beginning with respect.

Communication planning should be thought of as critical, not obsolete, in this age of instant communications where every misstep has the possibility of going viral. Although plans may take a different form than those of the past, they are important.

In many ways, business communications have become very informal and that in and of itself is not bad. However, when you remove the formality, it does remove the guardrails. When delivering information around sensitive subjects, it is better to err on the side of sensitivity, not levity.

Nora Taylor helps CEOs and executives achieve success. As a Vistage Chair, she leads confidential peer advisory groups where the members work together to develop informed decision-making, improved judgment, and confident leadership.

Kirsten Yurich


Leader/CEO talks to her team during a work meeting

Eighty-five percent of business issues are relationship issues.

  • Most leaders did not take courses or get degrees in "how to manage relationships."
  • Relationships are what many leaders spend the least amount of time "doing."
  • As they get higher in the organization, the "what" they produce (from a tangible, leave-it-on-the-desk standpoint) changes.
    • The higher they go, the more leaders are responsible for PRODUCING relationships.
  • Relationships are the product of a leader’s work.
  • Relationships are the platform along which all other work is done.

How do you develop better relationships? Have more meaningful conversations!

Set intentions around your WHAT and HOW.

What should leaders be talking about?

1. Have more "why" conversations and less "how" conversations – increase motivation, get to the "real" issue, etc.

2. Motivation and fit between employees; SOONER rather than later in their tenure. Identify if there is a mismatch between the employee and the company (or the employee and the assignment).

    • Do the incentives line up / match with the people we have hired?

3. Are you setting clear expectations and do they line up with the feedback and consequences you have arranged?

    • For example, the leader tells the EE that her performance as a manager is important (the performance of her direct reports) but company incentives line up with alternate job outputs.

4. Don’t leave the drama up to your employee. CEOs are CROs, creating the narrative so employees can see themselves as PART of it, instead of leaving it up to the employee to create the narrative and the leadership team be in reaction mode.

How should leaders be talking?

1. As humans, employees want to know that their leader is a real person who cares about them.

    • Ask yourself, "How do I want this person to feel when I’m finished interacting with them?"

2. Taking the perspective of the "other." We often call this "empathy."

    • Lead with saying what you heard from their perspective.
    • Follow up with what you would want to hear if you were in the same situation or experiencing the same feelings.

Be deliberate and intentional with your relationships; they are your most important accomplishment as a leader.

Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.

Mark Fackler


Business leader/ CEO says something during a work meeting

Communication failures fall into two categories. The first is the wrong message or, even worse, no message at all. The second is not communicating enough. Failing in either category can cost millions if not the death of an organization. Yet with focus and courage, they are easy to fix.

In a sense, CEOs have a simple communication playbook once you have your organization’s foundation in place. That foundation consists of mission, vision, and values. Couple that with long and short-term goals and you have a foundation. Focused and courageous communication hardens the foundation, preventing costly or even catastrophic failures.

The CEO's words must always point back to the company’s organizational foundation. Messages to employees, clients, vendors, and the public in general all need to reinforce what you stand for. No matter what the situation, from crisis to mundane, craft the message derived from the foundation.

Once the message is set, repeat, repeat, repeat. This is where courage comes into play. Employees, clients, vendors, and the public at large will never leave you because you stick to foundational-based messaging.

CEOs must believe in their foundation, focus their communication on that foundation, and have the courage to repeat it forever.

Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.

Mike Thorne


CEO/leader communicates with her team members during a work meeting

Twenty-three percent of executives say they are good at aligning employees' goals with corporate purpose. Only 17% of employers think line managers are good communicators. Sixty-two percent of emails are unimportant to employees. Yet effective communication (changes/overall) lead to a 3.5X increase in performance. How can this not be a core strategy?

See the opportunity to communicate change as a connection vs. a confrontation and you will see the trust build and, ultimately, the performance of the company improve. Adjust your communication effort to the habits and mobile-first preferences (hybrid/remote/office mix) to what works for how your organization receives information.

Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.

What's your experience with communication failures in companies? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily's Executive Program.

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CEO Critical Conversations: How Communication Failures Cost …



I am always interested in learning what makes leaders and companies successful. The recent stories of embarrassment with MillerKnoll CEO Andi Owen and James Clarke CEO Clearlink (I will discuss further down the article) had me ask this question again. What qualities go into elite leadership and is it transferable across industries and business sizes? How does one measure leadership?

As one who had an opportunity to lead in multiple industries, I have actual experiences to compare and contrast what we read and see in “real life.” It allows me to see/read about CEOs and their companies and compare them to what I experienced.

One thing I am 100% sure of is that there are specific traits and/or qualities that can serve as a foundation for anyone in any industry and at any level of leadership that are crucial to maximize the business and personal results.

Personal humility and professional will (courtesy of Jim Collins) - The ability to have the resolve to achieve the organizational goals set while also being able to put the needs of the organization and its people ahead of personal ambitions. It comes down to whether you can stay disciplined in the long term while making the tough choices along the way. Will you listen to feedback that allows you to stay humble?

How A Personal Experience Shaped My Future Leadership


Executive/leader sets clear expectations with his employee

In my experience, this is a difficult balancing of will and humility and I was confronted by an employee during one of my roles as president of a division of a large global company. We had an open door policy and the individual couldn’t get her issue resolved with various leaders in the company and she asked if she could speak with me. The HR team was very involved and wanted me to be prepared because no one knew what she was going to share or talk about. As I sat there waiting for the meeting to begin, I was anxious and nervous trying to reflect on something that could come up that would be embarrassing or uncomfortable for the organization that we had not dealt with.

When she arrived, she sat down and said, “Before we start, I wanted to share with you that I don’t always agree with your decisions."

I thought, Oh boy, here we go.

But then she got very reflective and said, “The entire organization knows that only one person can make the decisions and because you do three things, we respect you and trust the decisions. One, you explain to us the need for a decision or change in a way we can appreciate and understand and you allow us to ask questions. Two, you share that several people inside the organization and others outside were 'consulted' about the options and risks/rewards. This," she said, "shows you care about our perspectives and we know that we were empowered to have a voice. Three, you explain the ultimate decision, how you landed on it, and relate it to life choices or decisions so we can relate to the situation in a real way. It allows us to process it and understand the necessity of it and implications if we don’t change."

Those “lessons” have carried with me for over 14 years since this happened, and I have tried to follow that model when big difficult decisions have to be made that disrupt the norm of the business.

What Has Changed In Leadership Focus Coming Through The Pandemic


Female executive/leader communicates with her team during a crisis

Fast forward to today, let’s face it: I didn’t have to have my decisions exposed and debated by millions of others who go on Twitter and other platforms. In the past 3+ years, we have had an extraordinary opportunity to watch, in real time, all sizes of companies and business leaders have to perform in the spotlight. Not only is social media quick to praise or admonish them, but employees are also speaking out and we can see the results in the amount of people changing companies and jobs.

So I ask myself as I study leadership, has it changed what it takes to be a great leader or has it adjusted the percentage of which leadership muscles a leader needs? More importantly, do we have people in these leadership roles that are skilled enough to manage through it? Leadership has been and always will be about how you are able to gain followership because people want to because you have created meaning beyond their job versus having to because they need a job.

I don’t see the leadership transformation necessary to excite employees, engage them in the future you want to see, and above all develop the transparency and trust required. Just recently Andi Owen, CEO of furniture maker MillerKnoll, told employees, “You can visit Pity City, but you cannot live there.” Tone deaf! I understand she is frustrated yet there is no sense of understanding of where her team is. Or how about James Clarke, CEO of Clearlink, a digital/marketing company? He praises an employee for selling her dog to come back to the office and suggested it was unfair for parents to take care of children while on the clock. Wow!

No doubt, It is hard when you are having to communicate over a Zoom call and you cannot read people easily and I respect that. It is just so important to pause before going on a call like that and remind yourself of the outcome you want and know that it could go viral no matter which way you go. CEOs want to inspire, motivate, and improve productivity while employees are clamoring for flexibility, higher pay given inflation, and more feedback not less. Both can be true if you have that as your intention. Sorry, being a CEO is hard.

Employees have made their voices clear and going forward I would argue that beyond knowing how to deliver strategic vision, financial acumen, and commitment to innovation, a business owner/leader has to pay close attention to talent optimization and development along with how authentic, flexible, transparent, and empathic they are. Building a diverse, inclusive culture that allows you to leverage your skills and the collective one of your organization. It means the financial P&L has to balance against the P&L (people and listening) that employees are focused on.

How To Learn About What The Best Are Doing & How You Can Apply It


Leader talks to coworkers

A few recommendations for those of you who are navigating this and unsure where to begin:

1. Find admired companies/leaders who are good at it - Tim Cook (Apple), Safra Katz (Oracle), Rosalind Brewer (Walgreens), Vicki Hollub (Occidental Petroleum) Lisa Su (ADM chipmaker), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Becky Hammon (coach WNBA/former NBA assistant), and Brian Cornell (Target) are examples to look at. As far as companies, these are all good examples and I would also offer Nike, Korn Ferry, Patagonia, REI, and those that are classified as B-Corps. Just read up on what they are doing and how they are navigating all these challenges. They are not doing it all perfectly but these folks are determined to challenge themselves and their organizations to continue to lead.

2. Books/Newspapers/Podcasts/Webinars - Seek to listen to or read about inspiring leaders and business owners to help you not feel alone in your struggles while also getting real ideas on how to think about handling situations better. Personally, I have tried to focus on brands that I can connect with across platforms and are consistent with their reporting. For me, on business, I love listening to/reading anything WSJ, NPR, Korn Ferry, Vistage Worldwide, and CNBC. When it comes to people I follow, I love podcasts that have a lot of wide-ranging, high-performing people that allow me to do research and follow their work. Some examples of that are The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk, Gary Vee, The Ed Mylett Show, On Purpose with Jay Shetty, and, when she was doing podcasts, Brené Brown. Their books, webinars, and podcasts are all ways I learn more about how to lead in the times we are in both personally and professionally.

As a former CEO and president of four different companies and industries, I am intellectually curious to hear what others have been experiencing and see as the key to great leadership. If you have some thoughts, please share them here, or to my email, [email protected]. As a chair and facilitator, I would love to talk to NH/ME business owners that are interested in discussing how to be a great leader in these times. Our belief is leaders learn best when in a group of non-competing other owners while in a safe confidential environment. If that is of interest, let me know. REALITY ALWAYS WINS. ALWAYS.

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Beyond The Bottom Line: Key Traits For …



During a seven-year run as a president, I learned a lot along the way and got my MBA and Ph.D. by listening to learn and hear versus telling and explaining. Why?

Our HR team had an individual who led the learning and development team and she came to see me one day and asked if I had a minute. And when I did, she said she had good and bad news for me and which did I want to hear first? I said the good news, so she said, “Mike, you have been here a few short months and your leadership team respects your business sense and loves your passion for people and being here.”

I said, “Great, that is good to hear,” yet I was bracing for the bad news.

So she continued. The bad news was, “You are getting compliant leaders on your team but not committed ones because your standards are too high.”

Those last five words stung. "How can standards be too high?" I asked.

She said, "You have not taken time to understand how to MASTER your ability to lead with purpose, have you? People will only trust you as far as you have built trust with them and you don’t spend quality time getting to know and understand your people but when you do you will create followership like you have never experienced. Give people purpose with your passion and then watch what happens."

I took all this in and began to understand that just because I was clear, was everyone else? This is when I started to focus deeply on using purposeful passion as a leader.

What Is "Purposeful Passion" And How Do Leaders Use It?


CEO/leader talks about purpose during a team meeting

It involves the idea that when individuals pursue work that aligns with their personal values and passions, they are likely to be more engaged, productive, and fulfilled in their roles. Studies show that people’s number one goal at the end of the day is to know they did meaningful work. Yes, the boss matters, as does the pay, but when you dig deep, PURPOSE is key. As a leader, you have to invest time to really understand people at a deeper level and it takes work and commitment and a level of humility but it's well worth it.

3 Ways To Utilize Purposeful Passion As A Leader


CEO/leader talks to an employee at work

As you get more skilled at incorporating purposeful passion into your leadership style, you’ll see lots of opportunities to leverage it. But, if you’re just getting started, here are a few ways to incorporate it into your existing leadership best practices:

1. Find examples of what you want: Share examples of individuals who have pursued work that aligns with their purposeful passion and the positive outcomes they achieved as a result. This could include individuals who started their own businesses, pursued social impact projects, or made career changes to align their work with their personal values.

2. Encourage exploration: Encourage individuals within the organization to explore their own purposeful passions and find ways to align their work with those passions. This could involve offering opportunities for personal and professional development or creating a more flexible work environment that allows individuals to pursue projects that align with their passions.

3. Lead by example: Finally, lead by example. Show your own commitment to purposeful passion by pursuing work that aligns with your values and encouraging others to do the same.

Mastering leadership requires discipline and patience and it isn't for everyone. To build a business beyond you, I would argue requires it. Let me know if you want to discuss this further or debate the thinking above by connecting with me on LinkedIn or by email at [email protected]. As a Vistage Chair, I love connecting with high-integrity, growth-oriented business owners/CEOs who also care deeply about the environment and humanity.

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Why CEOs Need To Give Employees Purpose …



There are days when I am very excited to start the day and others where I wonder what is in store for me. Recently, I had one of those “wonder” days when heading to visit a very successful business owner. Many times on my visits the individual temperature and heart rate of this leader can be “summer Florida hot” even in the winter and other times it can be “Northern New England dark February cold.” By the way, this has nothing to do with the actual weather outside. I decided that on this visit it was worth exploring how this was impacting his organizational health given the continual external challenges.

The minute the leader turned the corner I could tell he was in a good mood which meant it might be time to have that "carefrontational" conversation that would be needed. I got greeted with that warm smile of excitement like he couldn’t wait to tell me something. After learning that he picked up some new clients and that revenue was back growing again, he made a side comment that caught my attention. “It is funny, Mike, despite this great news, I cannot get the leadership team excited about this. But that is okay. They will be happy when their bonuses come in.”

Right then, I decided to ask the "carefrontational" question with a qualifier: “Would you mind if we park it right here?”

He said, “Sure, what is the matter?” I asked if he would mind if we dug deeper into his comment about the leadership team not being excited and he said of course.

I asked him that "carefrontational" question: “What role are you playing in their lack of excitement?” At first, he was dumbstruck that I asked, yet I let the silence fill the car and did not try to say more. He shifted in his seat and looked out the window. We had built the TRUST needed for this to be okay or it wouldn’t work.

From there we dug deep into how I experience his moods when I visit and asked what does his team experience on a day-in-day-out basis? It led us to a very moving and emotional phase, yet it was also powerful. He expressed how he allows his personal situation at home (good/bad) and the business results (day to day) to positively or negatively impact his mindset or mood. The light bulb went off about how that roller coaster impacts the organization's commitment to the goals and ambitions he has and also how at home his family might be feeling. It was so cool because he recognized it and articulated it versus me saying what I observed. He owned it…

4 Things CEOs Should Consider When Running A Company


CEO leads a team meeting about company culture

A few thoughts for those of you running a company, especially a family one, that might help improve the overall business performance along with relationships you have at work and home.

1. Judgment

Be careful to not attribute another’s actions to their character or personality. There are usually external factors that impact how people behave at work that impact how they are showing up that day. Invest time with your team to know what is going on personally and professionally so that when you notice a change, you can have that "carefrontational" conversation before it gets too far and they leave or you decide to fire them without understanding them. I have learned a new term connected to this called fundamental attribution error!

2. Vulnerability Space

If you as a leader are challenged with external factors contributing to your emotional feelings, so are other team members. Sharing that you are feeling stressed or concerned or experiencing some challenges at home can help your leadership team be more respectful and supportive. It can also help them share their situation. As a CEO/owner, I will assure you, over time, you will get a 2X-3X lift in individual performance when they know you care as much about their operational/financial performance as you do their personal welfare. Trust takes time but it does compound. The more everyone relates to each other the more connected the team will be, and when you need help they will be committed to it versus complying because you are their “boss.”

3. Structure with Flexibility

It may sound like a contradiction, yet what I mean is to put structure into your meetings with the team so they have a rhythm and cadence. We are humans and need connections and stability and knowing that there is a framework helps tremendously. That being said, during these get-togethers adding various exercises to keep people connected, reminding them why they are there, and adding some fun keeps people excited to attend and looking forward to the get-togethers.

4. Be a Learning Leader

Life is a journey and the fact that you are the business owner or CEO doesn’t mean you have all the answers. Nothing in your title says you should but many times we feel imposter syndrome if we don’t. My experience is intellectual curiosity and emotional intelligence are two of the most powerful traits a leader can and needs to develop. Ask for help and feedback, and listen to hear, not challenge. It might surprise you where in your organization the answers are. When you open up about what you need help with and are clear, there will be culture carriers who will rise up and help you.

The ultimate success of any SMB owner/CEO isn't to always have the answers. It is to truly know your team well enough to know who can provide the right perspectives for you to make the most informed decision for the organization. Let me know if you want to discuss this further or debate the thinking above by connecting with me on LinkedIn or emailing me at [email protected]. I love connecting with high-integrity, growth-oriented business leaders who also care deeply about the environment and humanity.

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CEO’s Impact On Culture: 4 Things To …



I was excited to catch up for some coffee with a CEO friend of mine at their request. We had met a month or so ago when they were really “stuck” at taking steps to prepare for the future while also preserving the company during the current uncertainty.

We talked about the importance of strategy, an action plan, resources, skills, and incentives to accomplish what she wanted to do. She actually seemed lifted up out of a fog when we finished. In fact, as we departed our last meeting, she said, “Thanks for hearing me out and helping me clarify what steps to take, and how to make choices with ROI in mind. I cannot wait to meet with my leadership team in a couple of days to discuss. They will be thrilled that we are finally taking action.” It was almost like she knew she was holding them back.

As we sat down with our coffee she immediately jumped in with how she had wanted to meet with her team and start to figure out their strategy and so on but can you believe this banking situation? How she and the team had been discussing it and the same with her key clients and so on. She went on to explain how she had been consumed by and before she went much further, I SMILED. Her face turned red and she said, “What is so funny?"

"I thought you banked with J.P. Morgan Chase bank?"

She said, "Yeah, I do. We switched to them a couple of years ago so we are in great banking shape and they are going to be fine, and wow, thank god I do because can you imagine…"

I put my hand up.

I asked her, "What is holding you back from attacking the game plan we discussed a month ago?"

As she dropped her head, she said, “I know, I know. I just have never had to do it before and wonder if I am up to the task or not.”

Look... Intention isn’t good enough as a CEO and/or business owner. Action trumps it.

I also realized that as an executive coach and facilitator, maybe I was playing a role in this and because she is a friend, I had a blind spot so I stepped back myself and thought further about how to help her move forward in a more confident way.

Here are my thoughts that I shared with her and will share with any/all CEOs of SMBs that are wondering what is the best way to proceed.

First and foremost, just because you are the CEO doesn’t mean you have to be in the driver's seat behind the steering wheel for everything. It is worth considering having a professional facilitator who knows your space or works with companies of your size and scale.

I would be asking myself the following questions to decide how to proceed:

  • Do I lead it or have it facilitated or are there other CEOs I could connect with in my market?
  • How will I measure ROI?

Facilitator Considerations


Executives use a facilitator to help their team

Facilitators bring an outside perspective: A facilitator can offer a fresh perspective on your organization and its priorities. They are not bound by the same biases or assumptions as your team and can help you identify blind spots or areas for improvement.

Facilitators can help manage group dynamics: When a group is trying to prioritize initiatives, there can be a lot of competing opinions and emotions. A skilled facilitator can help manage these dynamics, ensuring that everyone's voice is heard and that the discussion stays on track.

Facilitators can bring structure to the process: Prioritization discussions can quickly become overwhelming and unproductive if there is no clear structure in place. A facilitator can help design and facilitate a process that is efficient, effective, and aligned with your organization's goals.

Facilitators can help drive consensus: It's important that your leadership team is aligned around your organization's priorities. A facilitator can help drive consensus and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Of course, bringing in a facilitator comes with a cost, and may not be necessary for every organization. However, if you feel that your leadership team could benefit from an outside perspective, or if you're struggling to make progress on prioritization discussions, it may be worth considering.

Peer Advisory Groups - There are several of them in every market place so exploring the right fit for you takes some time but is well worth it. I wish that when I was a CEO someone gave me that advice! When you join a CEO peer advisory group you will be working with a group of people who are demonstrably committed to learning—people who dedicate significant time, effort, and money to being regularly challenged by their peers, speakers, and chairs—all in the service of becoming better leaders and better people. It doesn’t get much better than that. It is the only safe, confidential space for business owners and CEOs to validate their decisions, recognize gaps in their thinking, or gain new exciting ideas they didn’t think of on their own.

Measuring ROI


Patrick Lencioni\u2019s Six Geniuses

When a CEO is deciding to prioritize certain projects over others, it is important to measure the return on investment (ROI) of each project to ensure that the projects being pursued will have a positive impact on the organization. In my experience, I would ensure my finance lead or CFO (depending on org size) had this responsibility. The two of us would talk it over and they would help me decide how best to measure the ROI. Below are some things to consider.

Define the goal: The CEO should define the desired outcome of each project, such as increased revenue or improved efficiency.

Estimate costs: The CEO should estimate the costs associated with each project, including both direct and indirect costs, such as labor, materials, and equipment.

Forecast benefits: The CEO should forecast the potential benefits of each project, such as increased revenue, improved customer satisfaction, or reduced costs.

Calculate ROI: The CEO should calculate the ROI of each project by dividing the projected benefits by the estimated costs. This will provide a percentage that indicates the potential return on investment.

Prioritize projects: The CEO should prioritize the projects with the highest ROI to ensure that resources are allocated to projects that are most likely to generate a positive return.

Monitor progress: The CEO should monitor the progress of each project and adjust priorities as needed based on actual results.

When you are ready (note the prep work below), I would bring your team together and ask them the three most powerful words outside of I LOVE YOU…

I need help.

Set clear goals and expectations: Before you can prioritize tasks, you need to have a clear understanding of what your goals are. Take some time to articulate what you want your team to achieve and communicate those goals clearly to your team.

Define what is important: Know the big from the small and you will have to learn to be aggressively patient. (Move fast on some things, slow on others.) Once you have your goals, it's important to determine what tasks or projects are critical to achieving them. Make a list of these items and share them with your team.

Collaborate with your team: It's important to involve your team in the prioritization process. Hold a meeting or brainstorming session where everyone can contribute ideas on what should be prioritized. Encourage open and honest communication to ensure that all perspectives are heard.

Assign ownership: Once you've prioritized your tasks, assign ownership to specific team members. This will help ensure that everyone knows what they're responsible for and that the work is distributed evenly. This is one of the most important steps in all of this because it establishes buy-in.

As a side note, I would also suggest looking at Patrick Lencioni’s new Working Genius tool (see image above) because it does an amazing job helping you and your leadership team identify your gifts as individuals and as a team. You will quickly see where maybe certain team members' gifts are not being leveraged. Great story in Chief Executive magazine.

When you have total alignment it requires preparation and planning but, done well, you deliver optimum results! Strategy (without you get confusion), set the action plan (false starts without), have the right resources (frustration without), make sure you have the skills/competencies (or you create anxiety, and finally have incentives aligned (you will get only gradual change).

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Are You Running Or Leading Your Company? …



I was recently working with a midsize business owner/CEO who wanted to know if I thought we were headed to a recession or if what he was hearing on his favorite news show was true about how it wasn’t true and I said...

“TIME OUT."

They looked at me and it was silent for a few seconds, and I said, would you be open to a discussion about something? They said of course! I said, “What really is the #1 thing on your mind that we should be really talking about?” The person looked away, took a deep breath, and said, “I am really stuck trying to decide where to prioritize my organization given all the uncertainty I am hearing about.” They then rattled off several ideas that all sounded like great ideas to pursue to grow and the individual was very excited and passionate about all of them. They then shared all the risks of changing but they know they need to.

Sound familiar? It led us down a whole different path that ultimately uncovered what so many leaders struggle with when there is so much uncertainty.

When it comes to small to midsized business owners/CEOs, there are typically three reasons I see that lead to them stalling out in their growth.

Reasons Why CEOs Get Stuck In Their Businesses


CEO/businesswoman leads a meeting at work

A. They are paralyzed and work to rationalize why they have not changed anything they are doing, knowing that they need to. I hear things like, “I am too busy,” “Do you know how hard it is to find good help,” “I am still working on sizing the market,” “I think this or that,” “Do I invest, retrench, and just ride it out and hope for the best?”

B. They don’t know where/how to begin, or stick to what they know. This often explains why they use the phrases above as excuses for not moving forward.

C. FOMO (fear of missing out). If they were to prioritize they could miss out on something else so they keep all options open and see what happens.

The problem with all three reasons above is they risk creating financial, operational, and emotional issues that ultimately could take the company down—and result in employees losing jobs.

The Costs Of CEO Neglect: Financial, Operational & Emotional


CEO and other executives talk about their business plan during a meeting

When CEOs fail to address their reasons for getting stuck, A LOT can go wrong. Financially and operationally, there are potential revenue and profit declines, market share losses, and higher costs. Emotionally there will be decreased morale, increased stress, decreased trust, and anxiety without a clear vision and an effective communication plan.

FACT: The #1 mistake that small and midsize business owners make during uncertain times is failing to adapt quickly enough to changes in the market or consumer behavior.

This can manifest in a few different ways:

Sticking with the status quo: Some business owners may be reluctant to change their business models or processes, even when it becomes clear that the old way of doing things is no longer effective.

Clinging to familiar methods or routines: Usually, out of fear of the unknown, even as the business suffers.

Cutting too many corners: Conversely, other business owners may panic and overreact to uncertain conditions by making drastic cuts across the board.

Trying to save money in the wrong places: They may lay off too many employees, reduce marketing and advertising budgets, or stop investing in new products or services altogether.

Failing to communicate effectively: During times of uncertainty, it's crucial for business owners to communicate clearly and frequently with employees, customers, and other stakeholders.

Hesitating to share bad news or admit to uncertainty: Holding back on the truth can lead to confusion, mistrust, and frustration.

Over-communicating: Sharing too much or too vaguely may also create confusion and uncertainty.

The decisions above may provide some immediate relief, but they can hurt the long-term health of the business.

How CEOs Can Properly Assess Business Opportunities & Challenges


CEO shakes hands with another executive during a meeting

Here are ideas on how to assess the various opportunities and challenges you are facing:

  1. Conduct a risk assessment: A risk assessment can help you identify potential risks and opportunities that could impact your business. You can do this by analyzing your business processes, reviewing your financial statements, identifying potential legal or regulatory issues, and assessing your competition. Once you have identified these risks, you can prioritize them based on their likelihood and potential impact on your business. Solidify your current business foundation first and foremost!
  2. Develop a strategic plan: A strategic plan can help you prioritize opportunities that align with your business goals and objectives. This plan should outline the steps you need to take to achieve your goals, including the resources required and timelines for completion. By prioritizing your opportunities, you can focus on those that have the most potential to drive growth and profitability.
  3. Seek expert advice: As a business owner/CEO, you may not have all the expertise required to identify and prioritize risks and opportunities. Seeking advice from experts such as consultants, lawyers, accountants, or industry peers can provide valuable insights and help you prioritize your risks and opportunities effectively. Joining peer advisory groups to bring outside perspectives in a confidential/safe place can confirm your decisions, catch risks you didn’t see, and/or provide new ideas for you to consider.

In summary, having a solid business foundation is crucial for a CEO before pursuing new products or services because it ensures they have a clear understanding of the market, and provides financial stability, operational efficiency, risk management, and strategic planning abilities.

Overall, prioritization is essential for small/midsize business owners to effectively manage their workload and achieve their goals. It's important to identify any barriers to prioritization and work to overcome them to ensure that tasks are completed in a timely and efficient manner.

If you want to connect with me to discuss further or provide other insights please let me know at [email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn.

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3 (Hidden) Costs Of CEO Neglect



I recently worked with an accidental CEO early in her career. She took over a business upon the sudden death of the previous owner. She stepped in as the interim president, not knowing that she was walking into a situation that would ultimately be a turn-around or shut-down situation. Or, that this would become her new career.

Not only did she succeed in turning the business around, she now leads a larger and very successful business, less than 10 years later, and is now looking to acquire a company in order to expand.

Why Small Business CEOs Should Consider M&A Right Now


Mergers and acquisitions, M&A, partnership concept

As a small business CEO, if you are not thinking of M&A as part of your strategic growth in your 3-to-5-year plan, you are potentially ignoring the largest opportunities for growth. If you are waiting until the economy stabilizes, you are missing an opportunity. As you consider acquisitions, there are five things you should contemplate:

1. Is your house in order? Do a self-audit or at least look in the mirror before starting down the road of a transaction. Do you have the right players, in the right seats, and is everything running smoothly? Understand where you will be stretched during a transaction and where you will pull from to meet the needs.

2. Understand your risk tolerance. Identify the risk you can tolerate if things don’t go according to plan with either your organic business or the slowing economy. Do you have your reserves and contingency plans? Thorough due diligence should be expected; small and mid-sized acquisitions by small and mid-sized companies often mean more detailed due diligence because of the catastrophic impact a failed deal could have on a business. Involve your team members in the diligence as practicable; besides becoming invested in the success of the transaction and post-integration, they become better leaders as a result.

3. What’s the growth opportunity? Specifically, what’s the strategic growth opportunity? M&A can drive growth, especially during slower economic times when organic growth may be lagging.

4. What’s the culture like? Culture is often neglected, especially in small deals, even though people and culture are a significant part of how the small business became successful. Culture diligence is as important as financial and operational diligence. A culture clash can kill a deal or cause a post-deal integration failure.

5. Are you being bold enough? Through exponential growth, a small business can disrupt an industry and become the industry leader. Acquire one business a year and you can be positioned to be that industry leader. In short, don’t miss an opportunity by waiting for a stable economy; a good deal in tough times is a good deal.

Finally, if you are struggling to contemplate these on your own, seek some help. Smart small business owners know they should work with mentors and coaches to help them navigate the expansion of their business. You are heading into unfamiliar territory. It only makes sense to have someone who’s been there to help you navigate the process and help you take advantage of the M&A opportunities in your industry and business model.

As a Vistage Chair, I work with high-performing CEOs like you who are committed to what we call “a life of climb”—continuously working together to be better leaders who enjoy better outcomes for their companies. If this article resonates with you, I invite you to connect with me by email at [email protected], or on LinkedIn.

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

5 Ways Every Small Business CEO Should …