HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO TEAMFLY Team-Fly ® OTHER BOOKS BY D. A. BENTON Lions Don’t Need to Roar How to Think Like a CEO The $100,000 Club Secrets of a CEO Coach HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO 10 Rules for Getting to the Top and Staying There D. A. BENTON M C G RAW-HILL NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO WASHINGTON, D.C. AUCKLAND BOGOTÁ CARACAS LISBON LONDON MADRID MEXICO CITY MILAN MONTREAL NEW DELHI SAN JUAN SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO TORONTO Copyright © 2001 by Debra A. Benton. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 0-07-137459-0 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-135998-2. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales pro- motions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at george_hoare@mcgraw-hill.com or (212) 904-4069. TERMS OF USE This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms. THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS”. McGRAW-HILLAND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUAR- ANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMA- TION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIAHYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the func- tions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inac- curacy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of lia- bility shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise. DOI: 10.1036/0071374590 abc McGraw-Hill My sincerest thanks and appreciation in completing this project goes to several people My husband, Rodney Sweeney, and to “Scooter”. My parents, Fred and Teresa Benton. My agent, Mike Cohn, and editor, Mary Glenn. And some special friends: Amy Zach Williams, Greg and Kristie Eslick, JM Jones, Michelle Fitzhenry, Delores Doyle, Mindy Credi, Dr. Kelvin Kesler, and Konstantine Robert Buhler. This page intentionally left blank. vii CONTENTS Introduction: The 1000% Solution ix Hard Work xii Me—and Your—Mentors xv What I Learned That You and I Can Both Benefit From xviii 1. Be Yourself, Unless You’re a Jerk 1 2. See Around Corners 29 3. Make Dust or Eat Dust 53 CEO Decision Making 55 The Phases of Planning 59 When Things Don’t Go According to Plan 69 4. Make the Big Play 71 CEO Communications 81 The CEO Is Also the CLO (Chief Listening Officer) 83 5. Keep Good Company 93 Get Good People—No Great People! 94 Get the Reputation for Putting Together a Good Team 97 Praise People 100 Careful on the Criticism 104 Protect Your Investment in People by Minimizing the Negative Office Politics They May Have to Deal With 107 To Keep Good People, Be of Good Cheer and Good Humor Around Them 110 6. Be the Number One Fund Raiser and Protector 117 The Areas Where Only the CEO Can Add Value 122 Copyright 2001 Debra A. Benton. Click Here for Terms of Use HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO viii The Technical Expert(s) 124 Public or Private Companies 126 7. Act Like a CEO Even When You Don’t Feel Like It 131 To Act Like a CEO Is to Perform—Both in Action and Acting 132 How Effective CEOs Act—The Actions and the Acting— Is Their Job 135 As a Leader, You 139 CEO Theatrics 142 8. Evangelize the World 151 To Get Better at Selling 153 9. Go Big or Go Home 159 Be on Boards 162 Set an Example 163 Give Money 164 The Other Benefits of Being a Social Citizen 165 10. Cut Through the Junk 167 Balance Is a Simple Concept So the Question Is Why Is It So Hard? 170 Get on the “Same Page” with Your Family 171 To Get More Balance, Decide to Do Something About It Every Day 174 Don’t Regret the Past, Change the Future 179 Wrap-Up 183 For the “Grays” Out There Playing the Back Nine, So to Speak (or As One Punk Put It, “the People Who Provide Adult Supervision”) 184 For the Punks 186 Special Thanks 191 Index 199 INTRODUCTION THE 1000 PERCENT SOLUTION • CEOs are different in how they can and need to act. •You need to do what the good ones do if you want to become one yourself. “Tomorrow will be different when you wake up,” says John McCains, campaign manager on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. “You will be scrutinized like a President.” And that’s the way it will go for you as you move up whatever track you are on. Whether you’re a CEO now or on your way to becoming one, you want to be a good one. No, a great one! That’s wonderful. That’s what is needed in the businessworld. Your employees, customers, in- vestors, community, and competitors will demand it. But most im- portantly you want to be the best because that’s the kind of person you are. Like California winemaker, Robert Mondavi says, “Even when I played marbles as a child, I wanted to be the best.” You are who I like to work with. You have basic ambition, drive, and talent. You’ll put the effort in, and you’ll make a difference in ix Copyright 2001 Debra A. Benton. Click Here for Terms of Use the world for all the people around you. You’ll be what Super bowl Champion Denver Broncos coach, Mike Shanahan, wants on his team, “A difference maker.” “Some people grow up with a certain hunger to excel. They aren’t always sure what form that hunger will take. Whether they will end up in law, business, acting, or racecar driving. But they de- velop a desire to excel and succeed and through sheer hard work and continuous improvement get there,” says Ed Liddy, CEO of All- state. “If you’re in business it helps if you’re fortunate to work for a great CEO. Then be watchful and observe what works and does- n’t work. And be open to modify your style. But be careful who you hang around with.” Truth is, as good as you are now you probably could do about 1000 percent more than you thought you could. And you can do it starting today. “Some CEOs think the day they become CEO is the high point of their career. They ought to feel they’re just beginning,” says Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric. And really, every day you are beginning anew and what is required to be the best today is to beat the best. Being ambitious, you (and I) pretty much have to make one of two choices in our quest for career goals. Either to Run. Or, run faster—and more efficiently. A web-based start-up CEO says, “It’s like you pass the finish line of the marathon and people say, ‘Thanks a lot, but you still gotta run.’” And as Gabrielle Saveri writes in Business Week, “So they take a deep breath, another step, and don’t even think about stopping.” Your race to become a champion has started if you’ve come far enough in your career to be interested in reading this book. You’re likely described as “a very strong contributor where people have a HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO x [...]... secretary,” says Nancy Albertini, CEO of Taylor-Winfield We had a phone call from a CEO who wanted us to do a search for him I returned the call His secretary semisnarled, ‘who are you, what are you calling about, and he’s too busy to talk to you.’ I just said, ‘Fine Just explain to him why he hasn’t heard back from me was because you explained he was too busy to talk to me.’ Well the man did call back and... key areas make up the chapters in this book Good CEOs know a lot Sometimes they act modestly act like it’s not a big deal but it is In fact things obvious to them can be a blazing revelation to others The task is in sorting out what they know into simple, workable advice To act like the best CEOs act out there, I condensed what they have to say into 10 CEO rules to help you on your trip to the top... that everyone treats anyone who calls like they are the Queen of England.” Creates and leaves a legacy You can’t always bet on technology, can’t bet on the numbers, and can’t bet on the economy What you can bet on at the end of the day is management People track your performance 7 HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO It’s called your reputation while you’re here and your legacy when you’re gone The way to gain a. .. the skyscraper, you can get away with more But don’t It’s back to your standard every day You get more options (mental and monetary) as CEO Be careful how you take them You can go to jail Michael Wise, CEO for the former Silverado Banking who was sentenced to 3-years in a federal prison camp after pleading guilty 9 HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO to stealing $8.75 million from investors is quoted in the Denver... Wrong 15 HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO I just took a recent situation that happened in my own life through these questions What I learned about it upon self-reflection: I should have kept emotional reaction out of it I shouldn’t have listened to other parties with an “agenda” I’m a little embarrassed that others saw me “less than the image I like people to see.” I now have an enemy, at least temporarily, until... recently that turned out “just okay,” not “great.” Isolate each one and ask yourself: How could I have handled that better? Where did I disappoint myself a little? What negative impact did I have on people and what can I do about that now? What do I want to remember when it happens again so I handle it better? What can I do about it now? Sound like beating yourself up? Wrong Sound like a waste of time?... must also become the elements of your life You need to have non-negotiable integrity, be able to envision your future, have the approach to get there, manage the plans, deal with all kinds of people, stay financially solvent, display leadership, constantly influence and persuade, be a part of a community, and sustain some balance for personal sanity In terms of professional and personal application... HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO “I’ve been fortunate in life because I’ve had great mentors,” says John Bianchi, CEO of Frontier Gunleather “They all had values and style I looked up to them because they had the qualities I admire.” Good mentoring means learning from the best This book is one more mentor for you A good mentor is anchored with similar values but not necessarily similar perspectives (Note: A real... individuals didn’t start out to do anything questionable Things happen The best you can do is to listen when the alarm goes off in your head: Every person is the architect of his or her own character Integrity—character—affects absolutely every other part of your life 13 HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO It’s the one thing no one can take away, and we can’t lose it unless we choose to This is your reality; your reputation... work 3 HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO Integrity is not as black and white as you’d like it to be Particularly when you add the diversity of today’s workforce where different cultures, religions, history, and exposure all affect the makeup In other words, you can’t be judgmental about your “right” being more “right.” They just may feel the same about you So you average it out: on balance, you act and make—decisions . Feel Like It 131 To Act Like a CEO Is to Perform—Both in Action and Acting 132 How Effective CEOs Act The Actions and the Acting— Is Their Job 135 As a Leader, You 139 CEO Theatrics 142 8. Evangelize. Need to Roar How to Think Like a CEO The $100,000 Club Secrets of a CEO Coach HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO 10 Rules for Getting to the Top and Staying There D. A. BENTON M C G RAW-HILL NEW YORK SAN. 0-07-135998-2. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to