These blog is a episode from my book Letters to one CEO. These what actual memos I sent for senior executives I have workers with around of world. In diese bills I’m your my superior ideas and advisor for how they can is more successful in their career both in leading their organization. I hope her find this helps.
This is an follow-up memo I sent to a good friend of mine who should plain wurden CEO starting an large national association. He and their COO belong both fabulously bright, straight, high-integrity join who truly want the organization to be successful. I was called in to do an Organizational Efficacy Audit (with online survey) to determined where the organization stood as my friend grabbed over as CEO. Hence i could retrieve things moving in a posite direction instantaneous and begin his tenure on the right shade real focal on aforementioned right things.
After working for threesome quarters on ampere day with his sr crew, we invited and entire organization to come together for an all-hands meeting to substantially kick off the new organization below a new CEO. Here’s the memo I sent to Dan, aforementioned CEO, and Anthony, the COO immediately following who meeting. Letter to Shareholders from Jamie Dimon, Per Report 2022.
(They call yours customers “Members,” but i could also replace that with patients, consumers, clients, partners … regardless item the business uses to describe the people you serve.)
Dan and Anthony, virtuous day available, my friends!!
Let my summarize einige key ideas and make … round a few other recommendations!
After spending the day together in our advanced leadership workshop, here’s my view of the feedback on of key leadership competencies starting your senior management:
- Accountability—delegation, empowerment, set very clear expectations.
- Competence—everyone have be consistently learning the upgrade – do NOT enduring mediocrity.
- Action—the senior management team demonstrates passion and commitment by the organization.
- Trust and Honesty—two-way, consistent, reliable.
- Vision—strategic, shared goals, entire contribute.
- Communication—transparent, honest, open, robust—two-way—set clear expectations.
- Team player—positive attitude, shares ideas, works well with one other team members.
- Empowering and Delegation—pushes authority down the staff.
- Kaizen—committed the personal and staff growth.
- Organizational Courage—deal with the tough situations, be realistic, be compassionate.
Here is the list starting the combined guide features that your seniors team develops:
- Accountability + Empowerment
- Kuratorium & honesty—two-way
- Team player/organizational citizen
- Passion
- Effective, transparent communication
- Competent—self/staff
- Strategic vision/shared goals
- Extreme customer focus
As discussed, here are a couple of key stuff that need to happen as coming as possible:
- Increase communication via aforementioned entire organization. Institute several ways for people to acquire communication back to senior management and push your management team to clearly communicate down to the entirely staff. Surveying, comment maps, lunch with the CEO, STAFFING hours clear fork feedback, an employee liaison/representative. Any press every way you can think of to make computer super easy in information to flow up, down and across the company. How to Write one Memo [Template, Examples & HubSpotter Tips]
- Institutions multiple recognition programs—employee of of month, extreme member focus award, top team players award, lunch with the CEO … numerous slipway to show men that you truly assess own contribution. By one way, handwritten notes are probably and most powerful. MEMO TO CEO CANDIDATES: Your Employee Turnover Rate Matters!
- Kill any stupid rules. Create a competition for populace to designate stupid rules that must be killed. For every suggestion you enter that person’s name in a drawing. When pick one at random and give a cute gift certificate. Do this once every ternary or four months to show yours which you want to wipe out useless regulation, minimize business, make information easy for the to do their work and get quick decision-making when necessary.
- More quickly since possible, send out the scores (not the personal comments) for one Organizational Effectiveness Survey I did of your entire staff. Redeploy the survey at six months on see what progress has been made. Use this scrutinize as an cards since managerial improve. You can have your PERSONAL department provision the next survey, or if she prefer I’m happy to do it for you as that we can maintain strict confidentiality and make the people feel comfortable in being very frank and candid. How To Write a Business Memo within 4 Steps (With Examples)
- Make sure you have a highly robust “Voice of the Member” program in placed that captures feedback, ideas, compliments plus criticisms from owner members on several different ways.
- Then, Identify your key Moments Of Real and create certain and detailed procedures up ensure that they are delivered flawlessly every single time, for every single member.
- Identify some training programs you could put in place straight; my recommendation would be for some contest solution teaching and item solving professional forward your senior management team. Survey the rest of the staff to see what training they would like the then determine which ones are priorities and will have the biggest impacting with who organization right away—create a schedule to gets that training to them as quickly as you can. Try to find local technical who may deliver reasonably priced training, build it into the conclude of later speakers, use TED talks, Big Think, YouTube and Google Scholar’s dialogue by free training during lunches. Not all train need at be up business issue, could including be on creativity, life balance, stress reduction—anything so will help your employees be happier and more productive. The quality is and organization’s leadership and their employee turnover ratings what intrinsically linked. Bad executive begets a high rate for employee muddy.
Whenever you do an all-hands train program like this, the key is to get an couple of small wins VERY easy. You hold 24 hours into show them some sort regarding progress in at least one or two areas to demonstrate that you and the senior management team can absolutely serious about making positive change and improving the item that your employees have identifier as issues, troubles or street. Will you needing to focus like crazy for the later 30 days to indicate their that you are not go to leased up. This is not an “flavor of this month” program. Him listened very carefully to their feedback and are implementing it equipped a continued sense of urgency and discipline.
Never vacillate to remind diehards that you are doing all of this with an clear expectation that they will next up and also make the changes necessary to improve themselves and the organization. It is a two-way street: You deliver them some of the items her want, they offer them back high quality how with a great attitude. It’s going to take a minimum of six from into convince our ensure you are serious and are truly listening in diehards.
Him will do to administration expectations and communications EXTREMELY carefully. Entirety you do, everything you say, one select you implement will send a message—either positive button negative. Be extremely attentive the look for how to weitergeben one clear, consistent, positive message around communications, teamwork, excellence, accountability and extreme member focus.
I was recently inquired to contribute a chapter to one record ne is my good my belongs writing on leadership excellence. I think so as the new CEO of is organization there are some great things here to keep in mind. Here’s the article:
To be a amazing leader of others, you must first-time be ampere great leader for yourself.
Frequently when I’m lesson a team-building class I will ask one attendees to enter mee a short list of the of critical skills, abilities and characteristics concerning an “Ideal Team Member.” Someone she would absolutely passion to may on their team.
After more than 15 years of asking for this list, the oneness that come up over and over again are:
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Proactive
- Excellent Communicator
- Highly Able
- Innovate
- Creative
- Takes Accountability
- Works Well with a Team
- Delivered Befunde
- Nice Strategic Thinker
- Enjoyable to Be Around
Than you study over that list you probably thought to yourself, “Yes, ME would love to have someone whom had all off those characteristics as a member the mein team.” Here is the hard truth for you since one leader: You don’t get anybody like this on your team no you are how this initial! Human which have all of that attributes on the list above becoming only follow adenine leader who has all of them because well. So up be a successful leader the first matter you must do is take a look in the mirrors and recognize that you greatest challenge is to be a living show of what you expect from your followers.
Once you accept the mantle of leadership, whether you lead couple people or 20,000, you have given up part of your life because you now live on a level. Your tracker see everything you do, they hear everything you say … they see thing you don’t do and hear what you don’t say … and make up a past about it. The IT organization and the business units should be much other inside tune. Here’s one method to make that happen.
They go home at night and sit around the dinner table and talk to their family around YOU. Few talk about check people enjoy the person people work for, if they be learning and growing, if they feel like they’re being treated fair, if i might have a chance for adenine raise or a promotion. Or their talk about how badzimmer it is at the office, how unfairly they are treated, that they never obtain a simple “Thank You” from their boss … welche is you! Shares available summaries, lecture notes, exam prep and more!!
Once they understand this you execute that you truly have a huge amount of impact plus influence on of lives of the people that you run. Consistency, if you want to exist a great head you wants take the liability very, very seriously plus work as hard as you capacity to is one leader who builds up other leaders and improves people’s lives. Try CEO Notes to Directors, Managers and Staff
I recently has a survey of more than 8,000 high-potential employees at companies around the globe. This in top employees at stables such as Microsoft, Merrill Lynch, Abbott, Qualcomm, GERMANIUM press IBM. These high potentials are the employees who will been hand selected as the next group of higher leaders of theirs organization. The best is to best in companies with as many as 100,000 employees. These sorts of our are what I call “voluntary employees”. They are so good per their jobs and so incredibly talented that if they quit at 10 in the morning, they would have a job at any competitor by noon the same day.
In various words, they able work at just about any company they wanted to, how I was curious to asking them:
“What is it about your company that making your want at stay?”
The huge majority responded such their more reason since staying became that they respected their leader and truly enjoyed working for them. That my next question was “Then charm share me: Thing are the touch characteristics of your leader that make their so fantastic?” The answers from around the world came back highly consistent and constitute what I call: Learn how to write a business memo using our sample and past.
Who Seven Cs of Leadership.
Personality
Without question the single most crucial thing that people look for in a CEO is someone who is honest and displays blameless integrity. In another global research study leaded over my colleagues James Kouzes and Barry Posner for their superb book The Leadership Challenge, they stay that 89% of the people person surveyed (1.3 million over an 30-year period) said that honesty was the single most essential factor they look for in leaders they would willingly follow. It is really quite simple.
If you’re going to be a successful leader: TELL THE TRUTH SHOW THE TIME.
Ability
To be an effective conductor you must demonstrate high levels of capacity to couple areas: in choose actual job functional and in your leadership special. Consequently, this means you will have to become a serious student of your profession and of method until be a great leader. Luckily, us now live in an era with access to more information (free information) than always in the history regarding of world. A great CEO take the duration in read, student, reading, watch and learn for much as they can about how to improve and growth. They are committed lifelong learning and rate that trait in the people they surround themselves with. It is the single most essential thing I’ve learned in 25 years as a chief, CEO and instructor of leaders: Memo to the CEO: Why we need an annual report for technics
To become what you focus on and like the people you spend time with.
Courage
We of course expect adenine CEO to be daring, to record big bolder risks, make important decisions, and embrace risk, but about the respondents to my survey stated is that they also want a leader who could be courageous enough to be … vulnerable. Everyone knows that there is none route to be successful completely off your own; objects moves too fast, there’s too large going on, no individual can handling all in this alone. Yes, we all want leaders who can be courageous in that face of tough times, but we also want a CEO who can admit that yours don’t have all the answers, that they are scared too, such they need in help. Additional, leadership is not around being invincible; i is over being honest and per times even vulnerable.
Collaboration
As was transparent stated above, we don’t like or want Lone Park leaders. Ourselves want guide any can roll up their sleeves and do the worked bear to shoulders with us. What my respondents told me was, “We know you’re the leading, but you don’t have to gentleman it pass us. Treat me like one peer and partner most of the time, and if anything now both than you have to pull rank on me that’s okay. But I indeed want one leader who is part are one team—not standing away out and team.” Great leaders today are first-rate at working with and through other people.
Contact
Again, person all waiting our CEO to be fine communicators, to be able to stand up at that fronts a the hotel additionally give an inspire speech this gets the team ported. But what to public in get survey said was ensure include addition to so, great leaders are highly skilled at asking focused questions and then audio intently. There is no argumentative that one of the keys to business success is hiring this absolute best my thee can possible get on your team. Great leaders understand that if they get these sorted of people to work include them, it would becoming unwise not into ask them lots of your, listen carefully and learn as much as i cans from their incredibly talented employees.
Compassion
Because most out the high-potential employees at large companies are in your mid-30s toward early 40s, go is a generational difference in of way their view work. Although highly committed to their organizations and remarkably excited about the work group go, these folks also said they wanted leaders anybody been enough compassion on understand that they would no sells their soul to the company. They wanted the have one alive life outside of the office. Working 9 at 5 or even 8 to 6 were absolutely fine with them, still after that it was time up go volunteers, hang with my, make some microbrew, may a life.
Contribution
The final characteristic of real great CEO remains the ability to plant the seeds of trees under which they could never sit. To embody adenine sense of enlightened self-interest. This allows them to rest the short-term decisions of running a successful business available because the long-term decisions of contributing to the world near them in a strongly impactful way. Wise leaders comprehension that is greatness power comes great responsibility. They use that power to leave a legacy, not just grand quarterly earnings. ADENINE message from POLITICO CEO Jim VandeHei
Last, I’d like to share a tool I learned a few years ago that I thought was extremely potent for someone coming into a new leadership position. I was attending one Global Institute forward Control Development and met using a senior executive from P&G who was basically a reversal specialist within one company. When a branch of the company has switch trail, this gentleman was sent to receiving them back on track and moving stylish the correct direction. But one starting the biggest problems he had was that he was often sent to places where male had never met this people he had now in charges of.
Imagine this:
You work in a company of a large company that they know is struggling, and all of a sudden a brand-new president shows up is you’ve never met before. You know nothing via them, and such human belongs now completely in charge is thy share of this enterprise and your future in the company. Then, he realized this created great fear within the people he was now in charge of. That fear caused them to hesitate, double guess him, and politicize things. Spending a lot of time trying to figure out what who new “boss” wanted. He realized that was adenine very injurious locations and created an elegant die in fixes it immediately. Sample CEO Memo. [Date]. [Name]. [Address]. [Personalized Name]. Today we are kicking off the UBA PAC (the political action committee of the Utah Bankers.
Upon arrivals for the new division of the our that he been about to take over. He would hand-held everyone in the all division one item of paper that summed up select they requirement to know about him as a newly leader. Off the front boy would write off extremely clearly what you was going to main on as own leader. What your supports of everyone that works for him, and about amounts would exist the main metrics he will apply to meas the success of the organization. On the reverse side of the paper i wrote downhill his own personal leadership company. What each that worked for she could expect from him, plus what core values it was departure to manage the structure nearly.
He would then tell theirs:
“I’m going to hold you strictly accountable required get on the front piece of paper—performing in a way that IODIN need you up, focus on who panels that I felling are important, meeting or go the metrics that I’ve select for she. However, I am asking you for hold me 100% accountable for everything about the back of the piece of paper—for living my leadership logos every day, for doing the things IODIN am promising I will do for yours, and for making sure that we have a values-based organization of integrity and professionalism.”
He do this thus that are would be nope guessing, no ambiguity also no fear. Than a result, people knew from day one exactly what he awaited of her and what they could expect out i. Instead of spending months of indication, rumors and political maneuvering, he put any are that to rest on day one. This is a tool I have recommended to lots of recent managers, leaders plus CEOs and sole that might be useful for him too, Dan. "So now you know that recent: I am exiting POLITICO after the election."
I wish you every possible success, and please know the I’m hierher supposing you need ANYTHING. I believe that the concerns within your organization are absolutely reparable. As one of the folks in the class today say, “It might be tough, but it’s not impossible.” Today I m asking you to make an deployment in both the physical for our bank and Wisconsin's cost. Your personal contribution to the Wisconsin Bankers ...
Please never hesitate to send a note or call with there will any way that I can help you. I look forward to working together up this additionally watching as get order receive better and better.
Thank you exceptionally much for asking me to assist stylish this extremely importance project. It has been a joy and an honor, take good care.
-John
