MARY
KEY, Ph.D
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When
I began research for the book, CEO Road Rules that
I wrote with Dennis Stearns, we interviewed more than 50
CEOs of primarily privately companies. It became clear that
for many, building a company together with a team of people
was one of the greatest fulfillments of being at the helm.
However, the price that some executives paid in the form
of illness, divorce, estrangement from children and other
catastrophic events could be significant unless they were
also able to apply the best practices of growing a business
to their personal lives.
The success patterns observed in
our interviews, and in our work with entrepreneurs and mid-size
companies, fall into three broad areas:
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- Right Focus: Having a clear and concise mission,
vision and values along with knowing what you can be best at.
- Right People: Attracting and retaining
talented and emotionally intelligent people and providing them
coaching and rewards along the way.
- Right Execution: Defining key result areas and
measures, implementing your plan and “living the values” while
holding everyone, including the CEO, accountable for results. Where
does this fit into a work-life plan, especially for those who
don’t run their own companies?
How To Start Developing a Balance:
Right Focus: Building a significant plan encompasses
your dreams, talents, vision, and goals based on the priorities
of you, your spouse or significant other, your family, and even
friends and community. Step one is to determine your personal
mission (Who am I? What is purposeful for me in life?), vision
(Where do I see myself in the next 10 years if my highest wishes
were realized?), and values (What are my 3-5 guiding principles
or code of ethics that I won’t compromise?). Next do the
same for your home team. What is critical to your happiness and
success personally and does your current career or position afford
you the flexibility to express those while accomplishing what
you’ve committed to do at work?
Right People: Make a concerted effort to select and surround
yourself with talented people who support your growth and development,
as an organization and as an individual. Who are your friends?
Do they support your dreams or do they bring you down? If you want
to enjoy a sport together as a family, you could enlist a coach
that will support all of you in enjoying the activity together.
If money is an issue, there are plenty of talented people working
in low cost continuing education programs at your local college.
Teaching your children the importance of cultivating peer groups
and individuals people who can support one’s growth and dreams
is a key lesson in life’s success.
Right Execution: Like any good business, you need
a plan that gets followed, tracked and rewarded. Having regular
family meetings where you review your action plans and set specific
measurable objectives that help you achieve your goals is key.
The best teams hold each other accountable and celebrate success.
When you or someone in your family accomplishes something that
you’ve targeted as important -- like running an eight
minute mile or getting an A in math, do something fun to reward
the accomplishment.
But don’t make all your goals about personal or professional
achievement. . Delve seriously into other areas like happiness
or what brings you joy, and legacy or the impact of the gift you
want to leave behind. Happiness is usually about “being” while
achievement is about “doing.” Some examples
of happiness objectives are watching a sunset or spending time
with friends listening to music. Few people think about their legacy – how
they want to impact others and the world.
In our interviews, CEOs were asked what they saw as their legacy.
Over 60% stated that it was developing others along the way as
they worked toward a joint vision. “I just loved working
with so many talented people on what we thought was right,” commented
Jan Alpert, who was President of LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc.
from 1993 through 2003. Jan began her career at a time when it
was even more difficult for a woman to rise to an executive leadership
role than it is today. Her company was at $10 million in revenues
and privately held when she started; it grew to $3 billion in revenues
through acquisition and by focusing on leadership development.
Jan would often coach other women on how to succeed in business: “Apply
for new roles, always develop your successor, and be persistent,” she’d
advise. Jan added, “I see my biggest contribution as
coaching others to be their personal best.”
Legacy is about putting your values into action. Are you doing
things that make you feel like your life counts? Some family examples
of leaving a legacy are adopting a less fortunate family and helping
them be more successful. It could be working on environmental clean
ups together to show your respect for the beauty for nature.
Using Right Focus, Right People and Right Execution can bring
a new richness to your personal and professional life. It does
require thought, conversation and letting some things go like some
less-fulfilling activities and even some relationships. Make time
to re-think what significance and fulfillment means to you and
your family and then create a plan you can implement together.
Dr. Mary Key is the co-author of CEO ROAD RULES: Right
Focus, Right People, Right Execution and a consultant,
speaker and the author of several books including THE ENTREPRENEURIAL
CAT: 13 Ways to Transform Your Work Life.
Contact: mkey@marykeyassociates.com - www.marykeyassociates.com & www.ceoroadrules.com
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