CEO ROUNDTABLE  April 15th, 2009 at the  University of Miami, School of Business

View from the Hot Seat in a Cool Economy

CEO Insights for Weathering the Economic Storm

What are essential characteristics of successful CEOs in our rapidly changing global marketplace? Whether you are an Entrepreneur turned CEO or a former Fortune 500 powerhouse or an organization seeking such an individual, the same key qualities are intrinsic to the job.

Regarding good qualities of CEOs, John Mestepey, Managing Director of Diversified Search Ray & Berndtson (DSRB) looks at what the candidate has done in the past, past behavior-based interview, indicating how they have handled difficult situations. CEOs need above average intelligence and above average level of energy, and leadership qualities, and what the person does in their personal activities and business that builds trust.  If they don’t have those qualities, they probably won’t be successful CEOs. Some additional qualities of good CEOs include: People who are strategic thinkers who can get you from where you are −to where you want to go… people who can create. ‘It is about the culture of the organization. If your vision is where you want to go, then the culture is how you get there. It is up to the CEO to create that culture. The CEO is often asked to find individuals who share that culture.

• A person who is a risk taker or risk tolerant and encourages risk taking.
• Someone who has solid financial leverage and understanding of how we make money.
• A CEO should be a person who is inclined toward “continuous learning”, and be on top of what’s going on and the best practices.

Pete  Haines summarized: Successful CEOs know the business they are running well enough that they know what the critical success factors are, they know what they need on that dashboard, and they have either gotten them over the weekend or they know exactly where to get them when they get them on Monday morning (probably before 8 a.m.). In order to be an effective CEO in a rapidly changing environment, you have to be able to get the information fast, know where the problems are, jump on the problems, and make decisions. Ready, Fire, Aim!

Some of the strategies of successful CEOs include how adaptable one is.  Daniel Cane. In a Global Economic Downturn as we are experiencing, he described a process that he calls “dashboarding”. First thing in the morning he analyzes “the blips on the dashboard” problems of the previous workday, to understand the health of his organization and be able to discuss these matters with the appropriate managers. There needs to be good transparency into your organization especially on the financial side. (A dashboard is a presentation of the critical success factors of the business.)

Panelist Peter “Chip” Vandenberg, Partner with Trivest Partners, LP advised “You need to make sure your debt/cash positions, and revenue look good on a weekly basis, and have good communication throughout your organization with CEOs and CFOs.”

According to Panelist Mark Blackburn, Ph.D., co-inventor of the T-VEC system, and President and CEO of T-VEC Technologies, in response to question about one of the things successful CEOs should do first thing in the morning, “what is key is making the deliverables. Always try to look at customers, individually, prioritize customers and provide them with a quick response to their concerns.

Mary Mathis, President and CEO of CBC (Corporate Broadcast Company, Inc.), founder of her own international management, marketing and public relations firm with offices in the U.S., Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia with affiliates worldwide, told a remarkable story of how she single-handedly set up a successful business in the male-dominated Islamic countries. She sees Monday mornings as the time you hit the deck running, something she learned while in Malaysia where they traditionally took Friday off. Saturday they came to work and set the priorities for Monday. She indicated the importance of being able to manage time and set priorities. “There is an art to identifying what real priorities are.”  Mary tries to have no more than 10 things on her “to do list” and diligently works on the top 5. She also stressed the importance of “having a mentor”. She credited her mentor (who she met right out of college) with teaching her most of what she knows about business, most importantly “anything is possible”. ‘We have a tendency to limit ourselves. She recommends that you empower the people in your organization.’

Daniel Cane, a serial entrepreneur and pioneer in the effort to enhance education through technology and co-founder of Blackboard, Inc. contributed several points including the importance of being able to write or finding someone to write your company’s business plan. Daniel stated “business plans are an absolutely necessary evil…the day after you write it, it is outdated. Plans can be great, they focus you, but you can’t stick to it. You have to understand − be dynamic, flexible, and change.”

In summary regarding business plans, ‘A good business plan has the ability to change whenever necessary, but what should never change is your vision, it should always remain the same, and the vision should help to keep you focused,” according to MIT Enterprise Forum South Florida Moderator Peter Haines. Peter is a successful entrepreneur and strategic business consultant with numerous years of international expertise, who has led multi-million dollar public and private companies.

Peter Haines advised the audience of CEOs, entrepreneurs, students, and other executives, regarding raising money, ‘It is an enormous drain on management’s time. Some of his clients spend too much time writing the plan instead of running the business.’ He advised, public financing is still available, but it is just at a much slower pace.  State, minority-owned business funding is out there.”

He recommended “share your business plan with your customers,” ask 3 questions: ‘What the competition does better? What do we do well?  What do we have to do to get your business?’

A wrap up on the advice to CEOs who are looking for insights for achieving success and  weathering the economic storm:

• Daniel Cane advises “with passion and hard work, you can overcome any obstacle before you. Passion is the most essential element.”
• Mary Mathis recommends that you ‘understand the separation between your own personal self−the more you invest in yourself, the more you are an asset to the company.
• Peter “Chip” Vandenberg, Jr., posed the question “What are some of the things you can do to maximize your profits?
• Preserve your existing customers
  
• Keep your R & D going (Research & Development)
• Mark Blackburn advised, “Know the problem and work to build something to solve it.”
• John Mestepey challenges anyone who aspires to the role of CEO. One of the common traits they must have is passion.