Greetings! Based on discussions this past week among a number of my Vistage Chair colleagues, there is growing anecdotal evidence that the CEOs we work with are operating with increasing caution and somewhat less optimism about the future than appeared to be the case as recently as six months ago. 
In most cases this isn't necessarily reflective of a downturn in their business - or even a slowing of the growth in business many have been enjoying as the recession continues to wane. It is more a manifestation of being uncertain about what the business environment will behave like going forward and concerns about the impact of the political climate around the continuing challenges to the US economy, foreign markets (some of which are in deep turmoil), geopolitical forces with respect to energy costs and a general sense that experience is no longer sufficient for managing the future. I have been sharing this revelation with some of the CEOs I personally work with, and there is a growing sense that their organizations need to operate more strategically. For that to happen, they need to be thinking more strategically too, and for most of them, that amounts to adjusting their priorities and spending less time on tactical and operations matters - which generally requires delegating more effectively and having employees capable of being more accountable and taking on greater responsibilities. As critical as strategic thinking is to your organization, more important is the ability to execute your strategies. Bob Devine, the former CEO of Hartz Mountain and a Vistage speaker who Devine Strategic Leadership (www.devinstrategicleadership.com), spoke to my Key Executives Group last week on executing high-performance for small and mid-size companies. From a depth of relevant experience in growing two highly successful companies, he notes three concepts that any company can rely upon to dramatically increase performance and drive growth: introducing lean processes, mistake-proofing operations and using self-directed teams to drive solutions to problems and pathways to opportunities. Given the undercurrent of uncertainty, it makes as much sense as ever to improve efficiencies, maximize performance, reduce waste, eliminate mistakes and empower your talent to gain or maintain a competitive advantage. Speaking about uncertainty, there are two powerful, yet simple questions I promised you that will help you and your leadership team make better, more strategic decisions: Can We? And Should We? As simple as they are independent of each other, in tandem they are an effective way to strategically manage the risks in both how you approach opportunities and how you solve problems. Should We? is a matter of determining what is the likely benefit you can expect to derive from the action being considered. Is there a defensible purpose? Can We? addresses the collateral impact of the decision on whatever resources are needed to achieve the intended results. While most decisions of any importance are weighed before they are made -in many cases there is a tendency to look at less than the entire picture. Some decisions that don't seem overly risky are made with a bias towards what are seen as truly seductive outcomes, and costs are too quickly justified or even ignored. The upside is so alluring that the depth of the downside seems seems smaller than it really is. Taking calculated risks is the basis of driving returns, but failing to fully assess or understand risk amounts to nothing more than gambling. What is more surprising is the degree that catastrophic decisions are the result of falling prey to opportunities that appear easy to undertake without ever fully considering the value of the likely results even if they are achieved. It's akin to buying something you don't really want or need - just because it's on sale. When doing a postmortem on initiatives that fail to achieve results - or even payback on the investment, one of the worst discoveries is the realization that the most compelling reason for going forward in the first place it was simply that "we could." A short list inventory of "Can We" considerations are: - Do we know the likely costs and do we have adequate means to afford to do this?
- What impact will this have on cash flow?
- Will this consume resources that are needed to maintain other profitable or necessary endeavors - ie, spreading people too thin, drawing down inventory or consuming too much attention and bandwidth of leadership and management?
"Should We" considerations can include: - Do we have a plan that fully considers the upside and downside of the decision?
- Do we have the talent and/or resources needed to execute the plan at a level consistent with the standards the organization normally operates under?
- What will happen if we do not do this?
- What does success look like (and how can we measure our progress in achieving the results)?
- What will happen if we try and fail to achieve the results we plan? How will we know when it's time to "pull the plug" and not spiral downward in "sunk-cost-logic"?
You still have opportunities in the coming week to attend one of two CEO level workshops (see below) , both of which will help you improve the level of strategic direction you bring to your company - and how well you execute your plans. I hope you will make the effort to join me. As always, wishing you a great and successful week ahead. 
Philip R. Liebman Managing Director, Strat4 Group Chair, Vistage International
PS - Please Attend as My Guest: I still have room for a small number of guests to attend my June 22nd Vistage meeting and participate in Marc Emmer's half-day workshop on REACHING FOR THE NEXT LEVEL: BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGIES THAT IGNITE GROWTH IN PEOPLE AND PROFIT. The meeting will be held in Branchberg New Jersey. Besides the enormous value you will gain from this workshop, it is also an excellent opportunity to meet some members, and consider first-hand how you and your company could benefit from being a member in a high-level executive peer group. If you are a CEO of a successful, substantial company - and would like to explore the value of Vistage -please come as my guest to this meeting. Fiscal Leadership Workshop - June 29th in Englewood Cliffs, NJ - Sponsored by North Jersey Community Bank. 8 am - 10 am. Advance Reservations Is Required. The Fiscal Leadership workshop gives CEOs of growing companies a critical perspective on leading your company through a better, more fiscally sound decision-making process. Participants learn how to look beyond traditional accounting reports and use a set of tools to help them improve how they: - manage cash-flow,
- improve margins
- deal with banks and lenders
- assess and manage "risk j-curves", and
- drive safe sustainable growth.
This program is being offered FREE to the first 30 guests who register and commit to attending. The normal $295.00 fee is waived thanks to the sponsorship of North Jersey Community Bank and their CEO, Frank Sorrentino.
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As a CEO you know that every employee has a boss, but not every employee has a leader. If you are the boss - do you actually lead your employees? The attached article from the Vistage Village website may give you some good insights.
