HOW TO BECOME CEO

Presented by

William Kritsonis, Ph.DProfessor

HOW TO BECOME CEO

The Rules for Rising to the Top of Any Organization

• Written by

Jeffrey J. Fox• Presented by

William Kritsonis, PhDProfessor

Published by Hyperion, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011

Always Take the Job that Offers the Most Money

Advantages of higher paying jobs:• Greater benefits , perquisites, bonuses, and subsequent

raises.• Higher paid persons get the higher paid jobs.• Greater visibility to top management• Greater responsibility Opportunities to perform and

show off talents.

Remember: Money is the scoreboard.

Avoid Staff Jobs, Seek Line Jobs

• Line jobs make money for your corporation.• Line jobs include: salespeople, sales and product

manager, marketing directors, supervisors, and general managers.

• Staff jobs are a stepping stone to other jobs.• Staff jobs include: lawyers, planners, data processing

employees, R&D scientists, and all administrators.

Don’t Expect the Personnel Department to Plan Your Career

• Your career plan is not predetermined by the corporation.

• Take responsibility in designing your own career plan.

Get and Keep Customers

Customers are the lifeblood of any corporation!

• Customers provide jobs for new products and applications.

• Customers provide early warning signals of product quality and obsolescence.

• Customers provide vision to

the future.

Keep Physically Fit

• Ninety percent of aspiring executives are out of shape.• Your capacity for productivity is by good physical

condition.• Being in good shape:

Enhances your energy level

Increases sleep and motivation

Decreases depression

Do Something Hard and Lonely

• Regularly practice a solitary task to increase

mental toughness.• Hard and lonely tasks include:

Studying late for a graduate degree

Running long distances in the early AM

Splitting wood

Working in the garden

Never Write a Nasty Memo

• A nasty memo criticizes, belittles, or degrades

a colleague.• A nasty memo gives your rivals a

smoking gun.

• Spend your energy on positive pursuits.

Think for One Hour Every Day

• Spend one hour each day planning:

Goals

Options

Problems• Write down ideas at a scheduled time each day.• Keep written notes in a special “idea notebook.”

Keep and Use a Special “Idea Notebook”

• Buy a notebook that you like.• Keep it in one place.• Write down all ideas, plans, goals, and dreams.• Use the notebook to record yearly, monthly, weekly,

and daily “To Do” Lists.

Don’t Have a Drink with the Gang

• Avoid drinking with coworkers after work.• Avoid drinking at lunch. Instead, you work.• Avoid the before dinner cocktail party at meetings and

seminars.• Avoid getting tipsy with coworkers—Signals weakness

and lack of control.

Don’t Smoke

• Smoking can offend a non smoker who can

influence your career.• Smoking is a self-centered interest. • Smoking wastes time.• Avoid smoking expensive cigars.• Smoking gives the appearance of being in control• Save the celebration cigar for when you

earn it.

Skip All Office Parties

• An “office party” is not a social gathering.• Never attend a company picnic without your spouse.• Attend the party if the unwritten rule is “you must attend or you will offend”.• At company parties: Drink only soda Stay no more than 45 minutes Thank the boss for the invitation Leave at company parties.

Remember: Don’t mix business with pleasure.

Friday is “How Ya’ Doin’?” Day

• Take a person that you need out to lunch

each Friday and ask, “How ya’ doin’?”.• Choose a person not in your department—i.e. take the

sales manager’s assistant to lunch.• Make one good ally in your company each month.

Make Allies of Your Peers’ Subordinates

• Gain support of your coworker’s teammates.• Teammates help scuttle deliberate or unintentional acts

by your peers.

Know Everybody by Their First Name

• Learn everybody’s full name.• Find out what they do and their job’s importance.• Introduce visitors to other employees and explain their

job’s importance.

Organize “One-Line, Good-Job” Tours

• Get the highest ranking officer to tour

your department and thank each employee.• Make up cue cards—One or two statements

of an employee’s achievements.• Everybody wins on a “good-job” tour.

Make One More Call

• Inches makes the difference between successful and average employees.

• Who does the best job?—

The salesperson who makes one more sales call

The copywriter who does one more draft

Arrive Forty-five Minutes Early and Leave Fifteen Minutes Late

• Be first on the job—always arrive early.• Leave fifteen minutes late to ensure your

hard-working reputation.• Get ahead on your work--Arrive early and leaving late.

Don’t Take Work Home from the Office

If you always take work home you are:• Not managing your time properly• Boring• Wasting your precious leisure hours

Remember: No real work is done at home.

Earn Your “Invitation Credentials”

• Every corporation has a cosa nostra-- an inner,

special family.• This inner group decides:

Who becomes CEO

The length of tenure• Entrance credentials characterize those in the inner

circle.

Avoid Superiors When You Travel

If flying with an executive, be sure to:• Avoid clever conversation—You are judged on results.• Avoid creating an overly industrious image.• Sit in a different section.• Best option—Fly by yourself.

Eat in Your Hotel Room

• Breakfast and dinner in your room saves time, money, strengthens your individuality, stretches your workday, and extends your office.

• Hotel room activities include:

Planning your day

Setting daily objective

Writing e-mail

Work, Don’t Read Paperbacks, on the Airplane

• Have specific objectives for each trip.• Plan your work according to the allotted time• Carry a small stapler.• Bring a large prestamped envelope to send to your

office.• Bring envelopes and stamps for handwritten follow-up

notes.

Keep a “People File”

• Obtain a large address book or a notebook computer.• Keep a file of people you meet, work with,

and get to know.• Use a pencil to record notations.• Obtain a business card for file.• Keep a backup copy in a safe place.

Send Handwritten Notes

• Handwritten notes make you stand out.• Handwritten notes are non digital and personal.• Handwritten notes include thank-yous, congratulations,

regrets, for your information, etc.• Send one handwritten note per week.• Make sure notes include cards and envelopes.

Don’t Get Buddy-Buddy with Your Superiors

• Remain business associates and not friends.• Do not to cross the line between business

and friendship.

• Know your boss and/or subordinates’ problems, plans, personalities, strengths and weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies.

Don’t Hide an Elephant

• Avoid becoming a “hider”.• Become a “discoverer” and expose the problem

immediately. • Turn a big problem into an opportunity to shine.• Always act in control of the situation.• Classic Elephants: Watergate, Vietnam, and surprise

business bankruptcies.

Be Visible: Practice “WACADAD”

• Prove your abilities with action—”Words are cheap and deeds are dear.”

• Work on visible projects.• Examples of visible activities include:

Presentations to senior management

Instructing a training class

Speaking before the sales force

Always Take Vacations

• Your department should function without you.• Always plan vacation in advance• Never cancel or leave a phone number• Inform superiors of trip in advance• Take a vacation to:

Increase chances of meeting helpful people

To observe new business practices and trends

To think and plan

Always Say “Yes” to a Senior Executive Request

• Always say “I can to it” when a top executive asks.• Listen carefully to the request.• Give the boss:

More than she/he wanted

Sooner than expected

With your own touch of ingenuity

Never Surprise Your Boss

• Bosses dislike surprises—good or bad.• No surprises keep your boss feeling in control.

• Surprising your boss leads to mistrust.

Make Your Boss Look Good and Your Boss’s Boss Look Better

• Improving your boss’s promotion chances leaves a vacancy for you.

• Your boss’s boss is always the key to assure your promotion chances.

• Make your boss’s boss look good by anticipating their needs and problems.

Never Let a Good Boss Make a Mistake

• A good boss is essential for climbing the

ladder of success. • Help your boss avoid making hurtful mistakes by:

Doing their homework

Giving a heads-up briefing

Beefing up a weak presentation• Avoid making personal your boss’s mistake.

Go to the Library One Day a Month

• Going to the library:

Increases motivation to work harder

Enhances self-control• Organize administrative tasks and update your people

file.• Write all correspondence (memos, thank you notes,

customer letters, etc.)

Add One Big New Thing to Your Life Each Year

• Broadens your horizons and prepares you for a top executive job.

• Examples of big new things:

Learn a foreign language

Write a book

Make a list of things to accomplish in 10 years

Study These Books

• Obvious Adams by Robert Updegraff• The Bible• The Art of War by Sun-Tzu• The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli• The Forbes Book of Business Quotations Edited by

Ted Goodman• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway• Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain• Anything by Thomas Jefferson

“Dress for a Dance”

• If you Dress for business, you do business• Dress for success—Your dress = your personality.• Buy a book on how to dress in business, such as:

Dress for Success by John T. Molly

New Women’s Dress for Success by John T. Molly

Overinvest in People

• Hiring the best people Great return on investment.• Overinvest in salary and emotional currency—praise,

encouragement, freedom.• Corporate leaders should never be anti-people.• Hire according to the three “I’s”—

“I” for integrity

“I” for intelligence

“I” for the “I can to it” attitude

Overpay Your People

• Underpaying decreases employee productivity.• Do not people cost and expect to save money.• Key to success: Hire fewer exceptional people all

making money than more people at a lower payroll cost.

“Stop, Look, and Listen”

• A good president must Stop, Look, and Listen

before acting.• Listening is a learned art and essential for

business success.• Listening = wisdom and intelligence.

Be a Flag-Waving Company Patriot

• Show total commitment to your company and

to its products and services.• Use your company’s products and promote them.• Buy company stock.• Never be cynical about your company

Find and Fill the “Data Gaps”

• Identify what you don’t know and what your

company doesn’t know.• Get the facts. Talk to customers and users.

Homework, Homework, Homework

• Avoid the “rocking chair syndrome”—lots of movement, but no real productivity.

• Find the facts and cover all the bases.—

Do your homework!• Homework precedes a successful project.

Never Panic---or Lose Your Temper

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances---Thomas Jefferson

• In a heated situation, tell yourself to “stay calm.”• Signs of panic: temper tantrums immobilization finger pointing cowardice acts rash decisions

Learn to Speak and Write in Plain English

• Poor communication = loss of time and money.• Be “to the point”.• Guidelines for better communication: Write necessary correspondence Choose specific objectives Choose simplest mode Gather facts

(continued)

Learn to Speak and Write in Plain English

Write a scattergram

Organize message

Write a zero draft

Write a first draft

Edit to a one page final draft

Tailor language to audience

Treat All People as Special

Excellent managers make people feel that they—

• are asked, not questioned…• are over paid, not underpaid…• are measured, not monitored…• are people, not personnel… • are sold on what to do, not told…• are instrumental, not instruments…• are workers, not worked…• are contributors, not costs…• are needed, not heeded…

Be a Credit Maker, Not a Credit Taker

• A credit maker gives 100 percent credit for work done.• A credit taker assumes responsibility for other’s work.• A credit taker is insecure, dishonest and known to all.

Give Informal Surprise Bonuses

• Give bonuses for extraordinary work done.• Give bonuses randomly to avoid drawing attention.• Surprise bonuses increase employee motivation and

innovation.

Please, Be Polite with Everyone

• Use good manners with everyone.• Be gracious• Never pull rank• Never smoke at meetings or meals• Never let visitors or clients wait in lobby• Always say “please” and “thank you”• Always introduce yourself and others clearly and slowly.

Ten Things to Say that Make People Feel Good

• “Please”• “Thank you”• “That was a first-class job you did”• “I appreciate your effort”• “I need your help”• “Congratulations”• “I am glad you are on the team”

Remember: Always be sincere

The Glory and the Glamour Came after the Grunt work

• The visible parts of business success = The glamour behind the scenes.

• The invisible, day-to-day toil = The grunt work.• The grunt work precedes the glory.• Some examples of grunt work:

Homework

Weekend travel

Checking and rechecking

Trial and error

Tinker, Tailor, Try

• 97% of people in all companies fear change.• Be an innovator--It catches attention!• Tinker with and tailor new ideas to specific needs.

Haste Makes Waste

• Speedy decisions are risky• Revocable decision: Changeable decision that is made

quickly with less risk.• Irrevocable decision: Non changeable decision that

involves more time and risk.• Examples of revocable decisions:

Choosing office layout and advertising schedules • Examples of irrevocable decisions:

Choosing brand names, acquisitions, executive hires

Pour the Coals to a Good Thing

• Never change the formula for success—Only

add improvements.• A good example of a good thing investment—

Disney’s legendary Mickey Mouse.

Put the Importance on the Bright Idea, Not the Source of the Idea

• Good innovators always listen to the ideas of others.• Idea sources include customers, children, competitors,

cab drivers, etc.• What matters is who implements the idea--Not who

created the idea.

Stay Out of Office Politics

• Rampant office politics symbolize a weak leader.• Symptoms of office politics:

Fighting each other instead of competition

Currying favor

Wasting time

Implementing unfair and unclear reward systems• Spend time creating and accomplishing—Not practicing

office politics.

Look Sharp and Be Sharp

• A little vanity is good.• Avoid faddish or cheap clothes.• Avoid a pale, unhealthy look• Have a bright smile• Practice good grooming

Remember: Be up. And smile

Emulate, Study, and Cherish the Great Boss

• Great bosses are rare.• Traits of a great boss:

Sets challenging, fair goals

Honest

Fosters employee growth

Experienced

Hard-working

Smart• Model a good boss’s business behavior

Don’t Go Over Budget

• Get the job done on time and within budget.• Tight budgets promote creativity, ingenuity, and

inventiveness.• See a tight budget as a challenge.

Never Underestimate an Opponent

• Opponents are:

Competitors

Rival managers

Buying committees• Appearance or reputation can be misleading.• Never underestimating an opponent’s intelligence, skill,

dishonest, and cunningness.• Overestimating your opponent may lead to being

pleasantly surprised.

Assassinate the Character Assassin with a Single Phrase

• Beware of the character assassin.• The character assassin lives by the motto, “the truth is

not hard to kill,” but “a lie well told is immortal.”• Two vulnerable traits of an assassin:

Obvious

Attacks everyone• Use one single phrase to assassinate the character

assassin: “Of course, with Mr. X, no one is spared.”

Become a Member of the “Shouldn’t Have Club”

• Avoid the “should’ve club” of risk adverse, non doers—”I should’ve done that” or “I would’ve done that.”

• Join the “shouldn’t have club” of doers and risk takers—”Gee, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Remember: No guts, no glory

The Concept Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect, but the Execution of It Does

• Waiting for the perfect time or perfect product

or perfect way Nothing.• Execute the concept with meticulous attention to detail.• Excellence of execution Success.

Record and Collect Your Mistakes with Care and Pride

• See mistakes as learning tools.• Record in your “idea notebook”:

Mistakes

Causes of mistakes

How to handle the same event again. • Acknowledging mistakes signals security and

confidence.

Live for Today; Plan for Tomorrow; Forget about Yesterday

• Do not rekindle yesterday--It is past history.• Get on with today--It is whatever you want it to be. • Plan for the future

Have Fun, Laugh

• Is your job not fun?--Change jobs or make it fun.• A serious, pressured work environment leads to stress

and inefficiency.

• A sense of humor = A successful executive

Treat Your Family as Your Number One Client

• Put your family 1st place to work.• Schedule your family on your calendar.• Put family activities on “To Do” list.• Respond to your family as you do your job

or an important client.

No Goals, No Glory

• No goals, no win, no glory.• Goals shape your plans, direct your energies, and focus

your responses.• Record goals in “idea notebook”—

Business and Life goals

Use 25, 10, 5, and 1 year timetables.• Create a yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily

“To Do” list--record a plan to reach goals.

Always Remember Your Subordinates’ Spouses

• A spouse can be an:

Important ally

A virulent enemy• Always thank spouse for their support.• Arrange a “weekend for two” for a job

well done.• Invite spouse to dinner with a colleague.

Seeing the Job through the Salespeople’s Eyes

• Selling is key to the corporation.• A salesperson has direct contact with the customer.• A successful executive spends time in the sales field.

Be a Very Tough “Heller Seller”

• Learn to sell like hell• To be a salesperson that sells:

Determine “customer’s” needs

Determine how “product” will satisfy customer needs

Develop “persistence” and “tenacity”

Make sales calls necessary to get the order**

Don’t Be an Empire Builder

• Get the job done with less--less people and less money.• Promotions and power go to producers, not to people

administrators.

Push Products, Not Paper

• Corporations encourage the “bureaucratic creep”— steady growth of red tape.

• Corporations need innovators and prudent risk takers— internal entrepreneurs.• Typical corporate entrepreneurs are: informal anti-policy anti-procedure

Remember: Avoid getting paper-trapped

To Teach Is to Learn and to Lead

• Always accept a chance to teach others:

What you do

Why you do it

How you do it• Good preparation and practice = A good presentation• A good presentation creates:

A reputation for being an expert in your field

Familiarity with other company departments

Strong circles of influence

Do Not Get Discouraged by the Idea Killers

• Idea killers say, “we’ve tried that before,” “management won’t buy it,” “we can’t afford it,” or “it won’t work.”

• Idea killers nourish the status quo.• Idea people build businesses.• Fight the idea killers by making your ideas work.