The Business of You: Don't Forget that You're the CEO!
I just got back from a week-long leadership conference that my employer sent to. I spent hours delving into psychology, business as a whole, people, and learning how communication is key to success across the board as a successful member of a team.
Yesterday we spent the day broken into groups and ran simulated businesses for 6 hours. I'm not sure if any of you have used that specific training program before or not. It's called Celemi and you basically set up the most complicated monopoly board you've ever seen in your life and run the books (gains, losses, equity, etc) at the end of each simulated year for 3 pretend years. You make risks and decisions as a group about which proposals to take on and why, how to allocate your money and increase the utilization of your team, etc. It was pretty interesting (and my team kicked ass btw, BOOM.)
While that stuff was fun and informative, one of the most important sections (for me at least) was when we had to go through all the potential bids and make a decision on which ones to use. We had cards with pretend businesses and descriptions/rankings for each of them in terms of potential clients.
The descriptions were things like "X company has a strong business image and loyalty but are always looking to do jobs for the lowest amount", "Y company is up-and-coming and they're shopping around for partners. They're quickly expanding but lack the resources to produce large-scale profitable jobs for the next 5 years."
The criteria we were supposed to use (besides cost-effectiveness/profitability) were the following:
This really got me thinking about PEOPLE as businesses. I'm not just talking about finances and balance sheets here.
What kind of loyalty do you show day to day? Can people count on you?
Are you available for people? Do you make plans and cut them short? Are you lowballing your time with people you care about in your life?
Do you have a good image? In other words, do people know that you invest in the right things emotionally at the right time? Do you turn your back because things are inconvenient? Do people know from word of mouth and reputation that you are an awesome person that they should want in their lives? Do you badmouth people? Complain a lot? Overreact to things? Are you able to say you're sorry? Can you admit when you messed up or do you get defensive and brush it off?
What kind of payment terms do you live with? Again, this isn't about paying bills on time. Do you call when you tell someone you're going to? Do you write back to emails right away? If someone texts you with a question, do you honor their time by responding or do your honor your own and respond when you feel like it? Do you do what you SAY you're going to, WHEN you say you're going to-- even if nobody is looking?
What's your volume looking like? Do you have a lot of people around you in your group for support with equal weight proportions? Do you lean on others more than you allow them to lean on you? Do you have people in your life that absolutely KNOW that they can count on you to help them be a sounding board or offer good advice?
And besides the characteristics above, let's go with some more business ideas. What are your assets? I'm not talking about houses and property, I'm talking about QUALITY people and a good head on your shoulders. Do you make good choices?
Do you make sound investments and do things to better your future? Do you take calculated risks in the Business of You? What kind of stocks are you buying? Where's your money going? The bar down the street, your health, your future? Where is that investment going? How about your time? Are you making investments or are you building up liabilities and paying the price? Do people seeing you as having potential to grow?
At the end of the year, do you have a net profit of people and experiences that you've gained as a result of making good choices and calculated risks? Do you have losses instead? Are things in your life depreciating in your life and maybe it's time to toss a bad habit or certain people?
What are you out there marketing every day? Defeat? Compliance? Denial? Or are you running out there with joy, abundance, and a stellar attitude with the determination to succeed?
One of the big messages I've always been taught is not to sweat the small stuff. But as a leader, and especially as the leader and CEO of your own life, sometimes you DO need to sweat the small stuff. You can't put everything off or just ignore it. This stuff matters, kids. People do rank you and make these decisions in one way or another. They want you in their portfolio or they don't.
Value yourself. Make tough choices. Look at yourself objectively. Make decisions that move you forward fast instead of slowly. Partner with the right people. Make your life amazing.
Just some thoughts for you to kick around from a different perspective.
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Abs
Yesterday we spent the day broken into groups and ran simulated businesses for 6 hours. I'm not sure if any of you have used that specific training program before or not. It's called Celemi and you basically set up the most complicated monopoly board you've ever seen in your life and run the books (gains, losses, equity, etc) at the end of each simulated year for 3 pretend years. You make risks and decisions as a group about which proposals to take on and why, how to allocate your money and increase the utilization of your team, etc. It was pretty interesting (and my team kicked ass btw, BOOM.)
While that stuff was fun and informative, one of the most important sections (for me at least) was when we had to go through all the potential bids and make a decision on which ones to use. We had cards with pretend businesses and descriptions/rankings for each of them in terms of potential clients.
The descriptions were things like "X company has a strong business image and loyalty but are always looking to do jobs for the lowest amount", "Y company is up-and-coming and they're shopping around for partners. They're quickly expanding but lack the resources to produce large-scale profitable jobs for the next 5 years."
The criteria we were supposed to use (besides cost-effectiveness/profitability) were the following:
- Loyalty
- Price availability (ie, do they tend to lowball)
- Payment terms (ie, when do their payments come in- 1 month after billing or 17 weeks after billing)
- Image (ie, reputable, upstanding, known for reliability and good investment decisions)
- Volume (repeat customers)
This really got me thinking about PEOPLE as businesses. I'm not just talking about finances and balance sheets here.
What kind of loyalty do you show day to day? Can people count on you?
Are you available for people? Do you make plans and cut them short? Are you lowballing your time with people you care about in your life?
Do you have a good image? In other words, do people know that you invest in the right things emotionally at the right time? Do you turn your back because things are inconvenient? Do people know from word of mouth and reputation that you are an awesome person that they should want in their lives? Do you badmouth people? Complain a lot? Overreact to things? Are you able to say you're sorry? Can you admit when you messed up or do you get defensive and brush it off?
What kind of payment terms do you live with? Again, this isn't about paying bills on time. Do you call when you tell someone you're going to? Do you write back to emails right away? If someone texts you with a question, do you honor their time by responding or do your honor your own and respond when you feel like it? Do you do what you SAY you're going to, WHEN you say you're going to-- even if nobody is looking?
What's your volume looking like? Do you have a lot of people around you in your group for support with equal weight proportions? Do you lean on others more than you allow them to lean on you? Do you have people in your life that absolutely KNOW that they can count on you to help them be a sounding board or offer good advice?
And besides the characteristics above, let's go with some more business ideas. What are your assets? I'm not talking about houses and property, I'm talking about QUALITY people and a good head on your shoulders. Do you make good choices?
Do you make sound investments and do things to better your future? Do you take calculated risks in the Business of You? What kind of stocks are you buying? Where's your money going? The bar down the street, your health, your future? Where is that investment going? How about your time? Are you making investments or are you building up liabilities and paying the price? Do people seeing you as having potential to grow?
At the end of the year, do you have a net profit of people and experiences that you've gained as a result of making good choices and calculated risks? Do you have losses instead? Are things in your life depreciating in your life and maybe it's time to toss a bad habit or certain people?
What are you out there marketing every day? Defeat? Compliance? Denial? Or are you running out there with joy, abundance, and a stellar attitude with the determination to succeed?
One of the big messages I've always been taught is not to sweat the small stuff. But as a leader, and especially as the leader and CEO of your own life, sometimes you DO need to sweat the small stuff. You can't put everything off or just ignore it. This stuff matters, kids. People do rank you and make these decisions in one way or another. They want you in their portfolio or they don't.
Value yourself. Make tough choices. Look at yourself objectively. Make decisions that move you forward fast instead of slowly. Partner with the right people. Make your life amazing.
Just some thoughts for you to kick around from a different perspective.
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Abs
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