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. 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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 [...]... 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 You—tomorrow’s CEOs—should have these 10 rules tattooed onto your forearm, to adhere to and work on improving every day of your... in the real world It is probably the nature of people to do what they can get away with Comedienne Chris Rock puts it, A man is basically as faithful as his options.” And at the top of 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... whenever, you call them, make sure they are all-stars who are better in some area(s) than you Your current job demands are great and will only became greater, so you don’t have time to go out and “try out” a lot of people Be careful and get some good ones Then ask them for advice; ask them to be frank, candid and direct and always to push you “Nothing makes me madder than being called a maverick who is... 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 those 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... 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 reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear — Socrates People see through you when you aren’t honest and ethical— either right away or eventually The. .. position, not themselves — Dan Amos CEO, Aflac Regardless of your job title, this good character stuff is for everyone at any level in the organization so people “pat you on the back” based on who you are not what you are Obviously, the best CEOs have the best “makeup” long before they get into the CEO position—that’s partially how they got there They practice it, not just praise it Good character is an evolving... you because of your character, not your job title A really good way to lose leadership is to be thought of as having lost integrity,” says Curt Carter, CEO of Gulbransen, Inc and America, Inc “CEOs jealously guard their good name They’ll pay ransom for their good name like paying a bill they don’t owe.” General Schwarzkoff says leadership boils down to competence and character, and more often the differentiator... months for an early out, help to re-educate them and so forth It’s patchwork They do it because it’s demanded of them or there would be an outrage.” (But, on the one hand, you could make the case that the smaller operation was shut down for the common good of the bigger operation It can get pretty gray out there as you can tell.) CEOs have superordinate goals They don’t start out to not be ethical But.. .HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO 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 develop a desire to excel and succeed and. .. will come back to haunt you eventually Evidence over time creates your reputation and legacy “Previous integrity That’s your road map to follow when evaluating someone,” says Lawrence Land, attorney-at-law Talk about legacy! “I’d rather have a ‘handshake deal’ with a person of integrity, than a forty page document with a person who embraces a ‘Clintonesque’ personality,” says Dave Powelson, CEO of TRI-R . 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. 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. 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