Did you know you’re a CEO?

I don’t know if you’re aware of this but you are a CEO. Every day you head a company. This company’s fate is in your hands. It’s failure or success lies with you. That company is YOU.

If someone did an audit of this company what would they find? Would you be willing to freely give them the financial statements of the company? Would you be proud of how you’re leading this company? Would you be able to give the company’s mission statement, it’s vision and it’s values? Would you know the company’s profit margin? Did it go up or down compared to the same time last year? Are you able to answer all the questions I’ve just asked? If not then it means you need to do some work on your company.

As the CEO of your company you need to know or work on the following:

Values of the company
Companies have values. What are yours? Figure it out and live by them. It’s not enough to have them but you have to follow them as well. Take time to come up with these. They don’t necessarily only have to be your religious values or values that you think you should have. They might overlap but be honest with yourself and find out what your values are and endeavor to live up to them if you don’t already do so. They can range from anything like punctuality to how you treat people.

Vision of the company
What is the vision of the company? Does the company have a vision at all? As Proverbs states, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” In a previous post I discuss in detail the need for having a vision for your life and how you can go about framing one for yourself so I won’t do that here. In another post I give an example of what my vision obituary looks like.

Vision/Mission statement of the company
When you now have a vision for your company, you should be able to come up with a mission statement in line with that vision. I came up with mine after reading The 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen R Covey. It’s a sentence that narrows down your vision/mission.

Definition of success for the company
In one of his talks, the late Myles Munroe suggests that in order for you to succeed you have to define success for yourself. You’ll hear people saying such and such a person is successful. Successful according to whom though? For one success could mean driving a Ferrari. For another it could be running a profitable business or for another attaining a PhD. What does success look like for you? You need to define it so you’ll know when you’re on the track to achieving it or if you are deviating from it. You also need to know it so that you’ll know when you’ve reached it.

For instance with me, success means being able to travel whenever and wherever I want whilst money comes in from my different sources of income. It means being a wife and mother who is there for her family. It also means I’m living my life in a manner that is pleasing to God. If you don’t already know it, find out what success looks like for you.

Challenges and lessons learned
What were the challenges the company faced in the last quarter or in the last year? How did you solve them or get around them? What lessons were learned? Do quarterly reviews and audits of the company to see where the company stands. Consider different aspects that affect your company. For example, are the people around you pushing you forward or pulling you back? Jim Rohn said you are the product of the five people closest to you. Consider the five people closest to you right now, would you want to be like them?

Profit margin
Did it go up or down compared to the same time last year? What can you do differently? What changes need to be made? Do you need to cut down on some stuff, shop less or party less? Could this area of the company benefit from others who are doing a better job of taking care of that aspect of the company?

Advisers of the company
Who are the advisers of the company? These can be in the form of mentors or confidants. People you know and trust or coaches, writers and speakers you learn from. These should be people that will be able to see your vision and who spur you on instead of pull you back.

Development of the company
A lot of people neglect personal development. It doesn’t matter what that looks like for you but you have to work on your personal development. In a year’s time you can’t be exactly where you were the year before. I’m not talking about location. There has to be some form of progress, some form of improvement.

For me I take care of this aspect of my life through reading and watching different speakers. Find people that do what you want to do and learn from them. Find out how they got where they are. Read their books, watch their interviews or speeches and if you have personal access to them, invite them to lunch. Learn all you can about what you want to do and where you want to be.

Get all the help you can but remember your company’s success depends on you. You are a co-creator with God so YOU need to do your part. Beginning of the year is the best time to start but anytime will do so whenever it is you’re reading this, now is the time to start.

Work on making your company the best it can be. Be the best CEO of your company because if you don’t, someone else will take that role. Manage this company well so that you’ll be prepared to manage a big company. And you will be in that position someday. Start now to prepare for that position by governing the company called YOU effectively. Even if no one sees the results in the beginning, keep improving. Before you know it your company will be able to go public.