Speak C-Suite, the Language of the Boardroom, or Else
C-Suite Speak, or the language of the boardroom, is a given if you are to gain repeated, ‘trusted advisor’ access to the Chiefs of the Boardroom. All my marketing life I have been a tactical person, at home with sales managers and field sales professionals, in the business-to-business sales trenches and their marketing arena.
A few years ago, when I decided to move up to the C-Suite or Boardroom where the big bucks decisions were made I had to re-learn a new vocabulary and with it, a new mindset or frame of reference.
It was a rude awakening to say the least, but a good friend and professional management consultant who ascended to the CEO’s position at a sizable company in the Commercial Cleaning Industry, became my Boardroom Mentor and Teacher and gently (patiently, too) walked me through the process.
Because it worked for me, I will share this process with you in this and future blogs. Let us start at the top of the decision-making pyramid where the buck stops at the desk of the Chief Executive Officer.
First, by revealing what keeps CEOs awake at night? What issues must be addressed if CEOs are to responsibly lead their companies?
The CEO Focus:
- Increase stockholder value.
- Execute strategic goals, missions and objectives to inspire their other Chiefs.
- Reinvent the company so it is correctly aligned with its now and future customers.
- Make strategic decisions to recruit, keep and motivate company-centric employees.
- Make strategic decisions to position their company as a market leader 2-4 years from now.
There are others, but these five are the drivers in which CEOs invest the majority of their time. A simple but relevant metaphor is to think of the CEO as a bus driver. They control the direction, acceleration and are responsible for the safety of their vehicle, its conductors (other Chiefs) and riders (employees).
They must always keep their eyes on the road in front and way ahead. They must see down the road and over the horizon. Their time-line is about the future, which is 2-4 years from now, because their today-leadership and today-vision have the most serious consequences when these become down-the-road realities. Wrong, reactionary decisions today can have catastrophic consequences down the road.
CEOs often have the final say in big ticket purchasing decisions when hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars are at stake. The higher you venture up the corporate ladder, the more at ease and confident you must be with P&Ls, financial terminology and the numbers on their electronic spreadsheets.
In my next blog you will learn the importance of business acumen and industry savvy.
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I like the sound experience on CEO