In my coaching sessions, I ask executives to behave as if they are the CEO of their lives. As a CEO you need to:

1.     Develop yourself as a product or service that people desire

You are multiple products to multiple markets depending on the role you play. When you act as a subordinate, you need to convince your boss that you are an ideal product and he should keep you. When you act as a boss, you need to convince your subordinates that you are the best boss. Being the best means being the best product or delivering the best service.

2.     Market yourself to all customers, internal and external to the organisation

You have to find the right segment of the market where there is a demand for you and for which they will pay a premium. You also need to promote yourself in that market. The currency of payment could be salary, or time or a great relationship.

3.     Run your finances i.e. reduce costs and increase revenue to more than costs

It costs to build a product and advertise yourself. Some costs are investments, and some are expenses. The benefits that you get from the buyer should be more than what you have invested.

4.     Create your own motivation and recruit people to help you (network)

You need people to help you in your various roles. You have to find the right persons. They need to be motivated or paid to help you. You need to motivate yourself.

5.     Use technology to make their processes more efficient

You need to improve all the above processes by using the right technology – be it blogs, a rudimentary CRM system, a list of birthdays in your calendar and your to-do list.

I typically do not differentiate between personal and professional life.

This article by Gibson talks about the same thing with reference to empowering employees to act as CEOs.

To quote Gibson, “Giving everyone the responsibility to set their own agenda, prioritize resources, and pull in the right people has also made our office more efficient.”

  1. September 12, 2012
    Aravind

    Can you suggest some names of CRMs ?

    • September 14, 2012

      If you want something personally, ZohoCRM comes to mind. If you want something free for the company, SugarCRM (but be warned, it is a bit difficult to set up). If only mail campaigns, try MailChimp

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