Develop a Personal Board of Directors
I'll preface this blog by stating that it is the rare CEO who will actually take this challenge. Read on if you believe my slogan, "Because good isn’t good enough."
"Good is the enemy of great." It is debatable as to who originally came up with that quote. Several have used it and so will I. The problem with "good" is that it is really nice and quite comfortable. Being great is a pain in the neck and can make good look very good. Staying good is easy when compared to being great.
Therefore, this week’s CEO challenge could be pain in many regards. Most CEOS don’t really get adequate and unfiltered feedback. A means by which CEOs can get unfiltered feedback is by creating a Personal Board of Directors (PBOD). You must enlist colleagues and friends to become your Personal Board of Directors and you must meet with them quarterly.
Set personal and professional goals and present them to your PBOD for review. Challenge them to challenge your goals for relevance and their degree of difficulty. Be very clear on this point, these goals are not your corporation’s goals such as revenue or growth. Your PBOD will hold you accountable for your personal and professional growth. Your goals may include face time spent with clients, one-on-one employee interactions, faith-based commitments, family interaction, physical fitness, diet and weight loss, charitable giving (again, personal not corporate), mentoring, or even education. Yes, even you can still take or teach a class. You might even commit to reading a book about business or leadership. Then you would report to your PBOD on what you took from the book and how you have implemented some of what you learned.
Meet quarterly to report to your PBOD your results and their impact. Do not talk about effort, only results. The rewards for achieving the results will be obvious. You must also be held accountable if you fail to accomplish your goals. Establish and agree to a significant monetary consequence for failing to meet your goals for the quarter. Allow the PBOD to participate in the establishment of the penalty and how the money should be spent.
Choose friends and colleagues who will be firm and confidential. Identify a Chairperson or a facilitator who will keep it on track. Don’t allow this to turn into a social event. Do not drink or eat at these meetings. Establish some guidelines in the beginning and stick to them.
You can expect them to ask you to reciprocate and you must serve on their board(s) if asked.
Take this CEO Challenge and develop your Personal Board of Directors. I promise that you will NOT go to these meetings with anything less than impressive results. Admit it, it’s a pain just to contemplate this week’s CEO Challenge.
