A CEO has to ask the tough questions so they can guide their business to the next level. These questions are not always easy, but they are necessary. If you are a seasoned veteran CEO, you most likely already verbalized these at one time or another. However, if you are new to the C-level atmosphere, welcome, here are a few questions you may want to keep handy.
1. Does my management team have the right set of skills?
Our business needs leaders who know how to grow our business through highly challenging economic, competitive and technologically adaptive times.
2. Does my management team have the ability to assess our existing business model and use the information they uncover to create a highly competitive brand with leading edge products and services?
A management team is asked to perform without question. They need to be able to have incredible business savvy and think beyond the immediate needs that need to be addressed.
3. Can my management team yield their power as the business figureheads and empower our employees to provide creative ideas for the future?
Management needs to understand that their employees on the ground level have the ability, knowledge and desire to create new, innovative ideas that can and potentially will create innovative products and services for the company. These ideas do exist in your company. If the management team is only relying on themselves, there’s a problem. Equip, empower, and then get out of the way. Good things will happen.
4. Does my management team know how to fully embrace the fact that business is driven by technology and how it is attached to our customers’ 24×7?
C-level executives now more than ever need to be on social media to hear and see what their customers are saying. They also need to know that following the customer from first touch point to purchase is critical. Technology drives these initiatives. Technology also drives your production, warehousing, distribution, and ecommerce. Does your management team have all this figured out?
5. Does management acknowledge that the technology needed for a sustainable business is not just re-purposing or replacing your old equipment?
New technology is not just getting an upgrade; it’s looking for new and innovative ways to thrust the business model into new ways of thinking that may not have thought of before. This may require a massive tech overhaul.
6. Does my management team fully understand that just because our company survived up to now, doesn’t mean we will survive another 5 years?
They need to look at your business differently, looking at your customers differently and thinking about monetizing the business offerings differently. The same old way just won’t cut it any longer.
7. Can management fully understand and come to grips with the fact that today’s Gen-Y and Gen-Z employees are highly entrepreneurial, tech savvy, have a short attention span and think completely differently than previous generations?
If the current management team is Gen-X or Baby Boomers, this may come as a surprise. Your employees may have ideas up their sleeves that are far better than you — that’s great! Listen to your employees and give them a platform to get their ideas out and in front of the management team. You just might be surprised at the magic they produce. Their ideation is on an entirely new level and their ideas can transcend where you are now to where you want to go.
8. Can my management team understand and lead with digital insight and expertise?
This can be a massive hurdle for a lot of companies that have older, less savvy digital executives. Lack of this insight can lead to extinction.
All of these 8 survival questions can be adapted to virtually any company in any industry. I don’t expect every CEO to spot all of these unless you have been through a crisis management experience before. However, typically many companies experience a few of these. As the CEO, when you do spot them, you have a choice to make. Fight the good fight and give it your best shot to get whatever you do spot fixed. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. It may take retooling your management team or even removing some of them from their job. However, your next option might be to dust off your resume and start looking for a job, because today’s business climate doesn’t wait around for companies to get up to speed. CEOs, you’ve got some tough work ahead. That’s why you get paid the big bucks.
Yourbrandexposed.com is designed to look at digital with an eye into the future using a creative, innovative marketing perspective. We’re a consultative and tactical resource for companies looking to leverage the power of digital, social and content marketing strategies.
Scott MacFarland
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