Lilit Davtyan is the CEO of Phonexa, an all-in-one marketing solution for calls, leads, clicks, email, SMS, accounting and more.
A lofty goal for most professionals and ascending leaders is to one day earn the title of chief executive officer. However, the journey doesn’t stop once you’ve reached the C-suite.
As a company’s highest-ranking executive, it is imperative that CEOs develop and execute a plan that extends beyond short-term strategizing. Getting caught up in a short-term mindset often leads to poor decision-making and missed opportunities. To ensure their company remains competitive and profitable, CEOs must craft forward-thinking strategies that propel their organization and breed long-term viability.
As the CEO of Phonexa, one of my key responsibilities is implementing a plan for success that secures the long-term financial health of our company. Here are some of the essential strategies I’ve found CEOs can leverage for continued success.
1. Sweat the details.
For a CEO to be truly effective when devising strategies for long-term success, they have to immerse themselves in the details of their organization.
I believe CEOs must be able to do every single job that they hire employees for at a high level. You don’t have to be an expert at it, but you do have to show your employees that you can get in there and work at the same pace when needed.
That means helping employees when you’re short-staffed, providing guidance when motivation is lacking, offering assistance during busy periods and so forth. You must be able and willing to grind and show your team that credibility is established through your work ethic and not just your title.
2. Make sure everyone buys in.
When a company makes a change to its upper management, the shift has the potential to either hinder or contribute to the organization’s long-term success. It all depends on the extent of change in leadership that caused the shift in company culture.
For example, if a change in leadership stems from an acquisition or merger, it may be hard to maintain the current culture because the parent company will likely want to adopt the same culture they had in the past. This can be jarring for longtime employees of the acquired company.
There’s nothing wrong with a change in culture—it can actually be beneficial when such a change occurs. However, a contingency plan must be in place to ensure everyone buys into the newly established culture. Have conversations in advance regarding pending changes to identify any potential concerns. This will allow you to realign culture more seamlessly.
3. Energize staff during the offseason.
From time to time, certain tasks or projects will be deprioritized, typically during off-peak seasons. From my experience, it’s best to plan ahead by setting action items for getting started on a particular task or project during an off-peak time of the year such as the holiday season, for instance.
It’s OK to scale back during the holiday season—especially if you’ve been grinding all year—as it is a time for reflection for both the company and its individual employees. Therefore, one of my favorite tasks during the holidays is meeting with employees individually to reflect on the previous year and come up with an action plan for the following year.
4. Learn from leading businesses across the world.
Business leaders aspire to one day elevate their company to the heights of global brands. One key strategy any new CEO can learn from leading businesses across the world is to keep up to date with what they’re doing—what has worked and what hasn’t.
What I like about industry-leading companies is that they produce a lot of content that business leaders can use to learn from their competitor’s successes or mistakes. For example, a company may share insights into an acquisition that didn’t work or discuss mass layoffs and the reasoning behind such a decision.
There’s a lot CEOs can learn from the companies they aspire to be like, regardless if they are a direct competitor or not. Competitors can be a great resource—and potentially a great partner—if you keep an open mind and monitor what works for them.
This also applies to a company’s impact on its community and how they cultivate brand awareness. If a company doesn’t earn the respect of the public, it doesn’t matter how much revenue it generates; eventually, it can diminish.
Developing an effective plan that guides their company toward success is critical for CEOs, as it allows them to anticipate changes in the market, mitigate potential obstacles and ensure that they remain competitive and profitable beyond the short term.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
