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My name's Terry Irwin and this is one of TCii's best business practice videos.
The topic is "The six essential roles of a CEO".
Few things impact the success of a business more than the chief executive getting
very clear about what he or she needs to accomplish.
The clearer you are about your own role, the more efficient and effective
your performance will be.
And the more you focus on your own role as a CEO,
the more your senior managers can focus on theirs.
So what exactly should be a CEO's focus?
Well, we've identified six roles.
Role 1: the strategist. This function sets the future direction of the company.
Arrange an offsite strategic planning retreat with your management team.
Look three years into the future and ask the most important strategic question:
Where will our future profit margins come from?
Chances are they won't come from the same place they are coming from today.
Conduct quarterly reviews.
Planning minus review equals cynicism. Planning plus review equals
solid momentum.
Role number 2: the ambassador.
Meet with important customers for an informal lunch or dinner, once or twice a
year,
and get the customers to know you, and you to know them.
This will enable you to increase their trust in you and establish your credibility.
Towards the end of the meal, ask the client:
Where do you see your company going over the next eighteen months?
And what problems do you foresee?
Then sit quietly back and listen, so you can take into account what you hear
about the company and turn it into real gold by embracing the third CEO role -
that is, the inventor.
To succeed in business,
you need to find out your customer's pain and develop new products and services
to relieve it.
Role number 4:
the mentor.
Become a teacher, coach
and mentor to your direct reports.
Instil a culture of learning throughout all levels of the
organisation.
Your direct reports don't always have the big picture perspective, so find ways of
teaching it to them.
Teach your people the basic financial model of the company, so that they understand what's
really happening from a financial standpoint.
Role number 5: the investor. Treat your company as an investment. Know the market
value of your business and strive to grow it.
Number 6: the student.
Actively pursue some form of continued professional development, not just in
your area
of expertise,
but as a student of leadership.
These six functions are not things to do when you happen to find the time. They need to
becoming your top priorities. Make them real and relevant for you, so that they drive your
daily calendar and all of your time management decisions.
Of course, it's very easy for a CEO to get sucked into doing other people's jobs.
I'll tell you how to stop this in another video, "How to stay focused on
the CEO role". In the meantime, remember the six essential roles
of a CEO:
Strategist, ambassador, inventor, mentor, investor, and student.
If you're interested in finding out more, call me, Terry Irwin, on
020 7099 2621
020 7099 2621 or download our free snapshot on this
topic from our website at www.tcii.co.uk.