how to talk to your ceo- cynthia laconte
DESCRIPTION
2013 Women Leaders ConferenceTRANSCRIPT
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Let’s TalkHow to talk to your CEOWomen Leaders Conference03/15/13
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Agenda
• What your CEO thinks about• Creating a company roadmap
• Speaking the language of “C”• Interpreting a company dashboard
• Communication styles 101 (know thy audience)• Using a DISC assessment
• Tools for delivery & follow-up
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Who’s Dohmen?• Trusted partner to 600 drug and device companies• And 6600 employers • 850 employees• 10 companies• 5 states• 650,000 square feet pharma facility space• Processing $9 billion in transactions annually• Touching 16 million consumers & 16% of US Rx’s• Helping 123 million people through our foundation• And we’re 155 years old this year!
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Change
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Ideas
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What your CEO is thinking about
1 What values characterize your company• Short-run profit, long-term growth, innovation, cost
2 What is your strategic intent• Purpose, mission, envisioned future
3 What are the external conditions• Regulators, industry trends, global challenges
4 What is the competitive environment like• Competitors defined by cost, quality, growth rates
5 What are your distinctive competencies?• What your company does better than the rest
- PETER DRUCKER
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Roadmaps: a path to the future
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Roadmaps: why they’re important
Because…
1. Roadmaps bring the future into focus• They operationalize strategic ideas into tactics
2. They help prioritize a pipeline of possibilities• If everything’s important, nothing’s important• Resources are never unlimited• Know your companies top 5, but live #1
3. They create a “picture” of the future that can be shared
• With common terminology about where we’re going
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What’s on the roadmap?
Values: • A company’s values express the principles that guide its internal
conduct and its relationship with the external world• They define group beliefs and act as a framework to guide behavior• They already exist whether they’re written down or not
• They’re enduring tenants - part of your company’s DNA• And everyone knows what they are• Leadership is practiced in actions more than words
Why it’s important? • Your communication (& behavior) should align with your company’s
core values. If not, you may be working at the wrong place!
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What’s on the roadmap?
Vision/Mission • Enterprise vision describes a desired future state
• “What does our organization want to accomplish?” (beyond just profit)
• Mission statements define why a company exists• It’s a short, succinct statement• What business you’re in • Who your customer is
Why it’s important? • You should be able to answer “yes” to the question, does my
initiative support our vision +/or mission and describe how
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Competitive Advantage• When a firm sustains profits that exceed industry averages, it has a
competitive advantage over its rivals• There are two types
• Cost – you deliver the same benefits as competitors at a lower cost• Differentiation – you deliver benefits that exceed those of
competing products
Why it’s important? • Businesses without a sustainable competitive advantage are short-lived• You need to know what your company considers its competitive
advantage because that what it will invest in
What’s on the roadmap?
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SWOT• An analysis of a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats.• Strengths = the internal capabilities that make a company strong• Weaknesses = the internal obstacles that make a company vulnerable• Opportunities = the external conditions that should be leveraged• Threats = the external marketplace conditions that need to be addressed
Why it’s important? • It’s a simple way to understand your company’s business context• You should be able to position an idea as something that strengthens
a weakness, exploits a strength, takes advantage of an opportunity or defends against a threat
What’s on the roadmap?
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Sandbox• The sandbox describes a company’s “go to market” strategy
• What do we sell (products/services)• Who do we sell to (customer segments)• Where do we sell (geography)
Why it’s important? • It’s how companies think about growth; new services, new segments
and new geographies all lead to new revenue• Think about your idea relative to these categories. Will it generate
growth opportunities – how?
What’s on the roadmap?
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What’s on the roadmap?
Strategic initiatives → yearly goals → quarterly tactics
• Define your company’s three year growth strategies• New product launches• New market segments • New geographies
• Identify & prioritize what has to be done to get this year• And this quarter…
Why it’s important?• Ideas don’t count unless they’re executed• Align your idea with the objectives of the organization
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The language of C: financial dashboards
March
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The language of C: financial dashboardAn income statement (P&L) answers the question – how’d we
do?
Revenue = Sales• Know what your company is selling & how revenue is generated• Know your company’s yearly revenue goals and what’s behind them• Is revenue growing, declining – how can you affect it
Expenses = Costs• Cost of goods/services and cost of general administration (SG&A)• Are they higher or lower than prior year as a % of revenue• How can you reduce them
Profit = Net income• Revenues less expenses determines profit during a specific period
Why it’s important? • Your communication should be grounded in an understanding of how
your company makes money
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A balance sheet answers the question – how healthy are we?
Money = cash = capital• How much money your company has in the bank• Is your company’s cash position strong or weak • Will your idea require capital
Return on Assets (ROA) = Return on Investment (ROI)• How much money your company is making on investments• How will your idea produce a return for the investment of resources
The language of C: financial dashboard
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A budget answers the question – what does the future look like?
Projected performance• A budget is a plan that predicts income and expenses for the year• It helps companies manage their resources and plan for the future• It drives decision making by monitoring performance to plan
Why it’s important• Familiarize yourself with your company or department’s budget• Identify how your idea will impact it
Other metrics• Familiarize yourself with your company or department’s budget• Identify how your idea will impact it
The language of C: financial dashboard
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What matters gets measured
•Your company has non-financial metrics too• Performance guarantees to your clients• Quality• Productivity • Diversity• Client Satisfaction
Identify whether your idea can improve the KPI’s that matter to your company and its customers
The language of C: financial dashboard
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Hi C:Compliant
Hi S:Steady
Hi D:Dominant
HI I:Influencing
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Know thy audience
How you lead & communicate are influenced by your personality style
Dueling paradigms
• Don’t assume your paradigm is the same as your listeners
People don’t do things against you, they do things for themselves
• We influence others by adapting our own behaviors to their needs
Conflict comes from a clash of styles
• People who behave differently are different, not wrong
Beware of using labels
• DISC can help you relate to how people see the world
• But everyone is a unique blend of these four behavioral types
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Know thy audience
High D individuals• Are outgoing and task-oriented: dominant & decisive
• Just the facts, get things done, broad brush, little use for details
• Tips for communicating with a bottom line person:
• Be efficient and businesslike
• Be brief, get to the point and then be gone
• Be prepared with a well organized “package”
• Don’t ramble or give too many details
• Just give facts and options for action
• Talk in terms of results, not methods
• Keep meetings fast paced and well planned
HINT: CEO’s often exhibit this behavior
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Know thy audience
High I individuals• Are outgoing and people-oriented: inspiring & influencing
• Magnetic, friendly, enthusiastic, curious, expressive
• Tips for communicating with “promoters”:
• Leave time for social niceties – relationships reign
• Be prepared to talk about family, hobbies, etc.
• Don’t over control the conversation
• Ask for their opinion
• Talk about the people involved in a project
• Put tasks in writing or you may never get to them
• Give lots of chances to talk in meetings
HINT: CEO’s often exhibit this behavior
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Know thy audience
High S individuals• Are reserved and people-oriented: supportive & steady
• Low key, cool, calm, patient, don’t like conflict
• Tips for communicating with supporters:
• Don’t come on too strong
• Start with a comment that weaves work & life together
• Talk softly and non-threateningly
• Give time to think
• Earn their trust in small steps
• Don’t demand fast decisions
• Provide reassurance
• Talk in terms of security, guarantees, testimonials
• Stop and check for agreement in meetings
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Know thy audience
High C individuals• Are reserved and task-oriented: cautious & conscientious
• Perfectionists, careful, thoughtful, analytical, conservative, detailed
• Love lists, charts, graphs, figures
• Tips for communicating with Analyzers:
• Be well prepared with facts & stick to business
• Keep emotion to a minimum
• Have facts and figures for back-up
• Expect skepticism
• Answer all of their questions
• Allow time for analysis, don’t demand fast decisions
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One Page Communications Plan
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Get talking. Ideas are meant to be shared!
Be courageous – make the appointment & don’t be afraid of hierarchy!
Be prepared – do your homework ahead of time & show that you know
Be specific & to the point – explain your idea & how it will improve the co.
Be brief – respect the value of time and provide a one page executive summary
Be aligned – connect your concept to the company roadmap & objectives
Be diligent – clarify action items and own the follow-up
Be nice – don’t forget to say thanks (to your CEO and their EA!)