Fantastic You Want The Ultimate Role, Now Lead Like A CEO

In this issue: Getting to the CEO role. Retailing and the fierce technology war that it faces. Leading businesses in a world of uncertainty.

CEO 101

Leadership is a very fragile role. Some never want it, others revel in it, a few get there and abuse or don't deserve it. And a very small percentage soar to the top. There are reasons for that but it isn't always what you think. The best don't seek popularity contests, nor do they win at motivational speaking and or at pep rallies. They do deal with a great deal of criticism and there is always a couch potato executive who thinks that they can do better. Leading is about your intellectual curiosity, capacity and capabilities to craft change in your areas of expertise. Too often many will tell you its all about talent and hiring the right people. For the record it is! However, it is also 50% of the challenge and not the entire journey. The journey is about making a business or brand successful, that's what makes CEOs and their teams successful, their results. Performance speaks louder than any pep rally in the form of continued business growth, career opportunities and growth for other business partners and their employees. Finally, having a great succession plan to leave the future in good hands for the next generation to build.

Getting the CEO Role: is like running for office

This week MP Erin O'Toole was voted out of the leadership role from the Conservative Party of Canada. Leading people is a challenging job especially if you didn't hire them and they are such as this case elected officials with different or radical perspectives. Trying to lead in this kind of environment is like herding cats and you lose your authority to lead when you acquiesce too often to keep control of the varied points of views. Often we see CEOs replace executives with people of their own choice supposedly to strengthen the team. However, the reality is they want to control the executive mind and hive. Even in that kind of fixed environment it doesn't mean everyone supports you. These type of CEOs do hit a wall and are exited, it happens all the time. As do executives who try to please and create a positive and non conflict environment, that doesn't work either. I've seen CEOs dumb down organizations to look good, and I've seen CEOs who try to lead through consensus and that's not a good place to be when you are competing against wolves. Leadership is about standing with your values and convictions as a guide. Allowing for open feedback and communication, and stopping outright wars (not healthy debates) are strengths, and prevent progress from being hampered. As a leader you are responsible for performance, not creating a power trip. The CEO or Party Leader has to be the adult in the room to keep everyone focused and not pursue the idea of the day.

Lead As CEO.

Are you ready for the biggest?mental and physical human trial of endurance that goes with this role? You will be on 24 hours per day. Lot's of travel, away from home, always under scrutiny from staff, board directors and shareholders. Miss birthdays, recitals and even vacations.?Everyday you are expected to be on your game. Time is also your enemy, every mistake made can set you back. The best goals seldom materialize exactly they way you thought they would. There are so many hats to wear. Everybody knows your secret, that the risks reside with you. There is never a day without red alerts. Be warned you will become a different human species. If you refuse to evolve and become that coveted professional who lives in a business savvy state of maturity, you can lose everything you've gained.?

Rules no grad school will teach you

No lessons are harder than the ones you learn through life and especially the hard knocks. CEOs come in all forms of humanoids. The majority very intelligent but if they lacked social skills and thought too much of themselves, their importance or their ego's arrived before they did. You know the type, they always have to tell you how smart they are. Or those that manipulate by playing friend, where in fact they were the rabid wolf looking to find faults. I've met some that throw tantrums and throw company printers around. But some how their resumes spoke for them louder than the reference checks. Read fast and hard rules for a future CEO

Our Next Big Risky Competitive Tsunami

Let's pretend you are now the CEO. The economy is opening up and and you're banking that consumers will be coming out again in droves. But here's the problem, you've seen two reports. There are indications that consumers are about to play it safe, many not convinced that its time to go out and play again. At least not like they used to. You run businesses globally and between 15-30% of the public is saying that they will wait as long as 6-12 months before they resume most of the pre-pandemic behaviours. But there are also other challenges as well. You've seen research from other consulting firms and all of them have highlighted the risk of additional variants spreading, higher interest rates to curb inflation and ultimately consumer spending and supply chains will continue to be a problem all through 2022. Knowing all of this it is clear that the competitive landscape is about to light up on two levels, pricing and the unleashing of a competitive technologically driven initiatives to capture share. You know you've spent more over the last two years to achieve your digital mastery. You also know so have all major retail players. Now you are wondering if you are ready. Welcome to next level of competition. (read this, our next big risky competitive tsunami) The artillery is AI, machine learning, digital marketing, data analytics and you are only as competitive as your digital capabilities and the leadership behind it. We are now entering a very different era of competitive skill sets. I do not believe most retailers and other businesses are ready for this. In fact many are weaker than they think. A presentation that I am giving again this coming week highlights that there is a big difference between the perception of readiness and competitive readiness. This is a challenge for all organizations if they haven't thought of it. I sincerely, believe that they haven't.

NEWS UPDATES

Peloton may have interested buyers WSJ in their brand. It is the right strategy from my perspective. In this post I point out that while Amazon has been identified I highlight that it could just as easily be Apple or even Nike.

Career and life longevity. Why retire? Your brain, body and health need activity. Read the Post 60 Career Paths. Think about it, travel and work at retirement. Technology makes so much more possible. And it brings what I call the "New Leisure Society" to life.

A 21st century future for Canada. An interesting perspective on how to advance our industries and adapt to new world. The Globe and Mail We should wonder though, will all governments and current social movements of protectionism prevent Canada from moving into the future?

I was interviewed and asked to provide insights on why we haven't seen as many bankruptcies in the retail sector? See my comments in the Retail Insider

Personal Log: Leading businesses in a world of uncertainty, protests and unrest

Business leaders globally and their employees have had a very challenging time for the last two years. Many business leaders believe that the pandemic and its associated issues will continue and they are planning around it. Prudent strategists. There have also been many, many difficult decisions made such as mandates, restrictions and business closures. But even as we get to the end of our shutdowns and parts of the world are beginning to open up, business leaders are now in a quandary. How do they work around the spread of long drawn out protests that may have a bigger agenda other than stopping mandates. They have been happening democratic societies (Germany) (Australia) and to the surprise of many now in Canada. The risk is can this turn into anarchy? About a year ago I read an article on what Anarchy means. Here is the article. History has many lessons and it is not wise to ignore them. In Europe after WWI and the Spanish Flu, the world faced very unequal recoveries. Some countries devastated by the war and economic meltdowns, they began to face populist and fascist movements. Many of them disguised as workers and people friendly parties. They gave rise to some of histories most dangerous political leaders costing us another world war. If you are a business leader trained in strategy you know that the "Current Situation" cannot be ignored. And that any risks outside of existing disruptions need to be evaluated even if they turnout to be trivial. Sure we can blame the pandemic, however there are other issues. Businesses that have silently failed and job losses.

The world is really changing at an alarming rate. Even the activities across Canada likely have an underlying source to them. One may be how technology is impacting peoples lives. They may blame government and mandates, but the real issue is change. The reality is in the last two years companies have spent fortunes to become more technically capable to compete. What's been the impact? And if you are in business you need to understand how to respond to the risks and opportunities that these changes bring with them.

Both books carry weight on how to compete and lead in these different times.

Next Generation of Retail: Nine years ago The Last Retailer Standing was published. On Chapter 8 there is a section called The Next Generation of Retail. That chapter has been refreshed recently and available on my website only to read for free no need to sign in or provide any information. Please respect intellectual property rights.

My company Inception Retail Group Inc. offers advisory services to businesses and senior executives, in addition to keynote speaking engagements. [email protected]

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