As the owner and CEO of a small or midsized business, the success or failure of your operation begins and ends with you. But success doesn't just mean earning profits. To truly be a leader, you must strive to improve the welfare of your employees, stakeholders, and others allied with your business by envisioning and implementing a strategy for success. Make the right decisions with the guidance of author Oswald R. Viva, a longtime entrepreneur and business coach, using this straightforward manual. You'll be jotting down notes nonstop as you learn how to: motivate yourself to the best CEO you can be; create a work culture that cultivates achievement; delegate and make employees accountable; improve every aspect of your organization. This guide points you to the knowledge that can help you make the right decisions even in the toughest situations. It's Lonely at the Top, but when you seek out the right guidance and make educated moves, you can accomplish your objectives, become a better leader, and increase profitability for your small or midsized business.

IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP!

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A BETTER LEADER OF YOUR SMALL COMPANYBy Oswald R. Viva

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Oswald R. Viva
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-4653-9

Contents

? Preface............................................................................xv? Acknowledgments....................................................................xix? Introduction—The Making of a CEO.............................................xxi? Part One—The Formation or Enhancement of Personal Traits.....................xxvii* Chapter I—Are You the "Right" CEO for Your Business?..............................1* Chapter II—Founding CEOs versus Second CEOs.......................................14* Chapter III—Leadership............................................................28* Chapter IV—Setting Goals..........................................................41? Part Two—Your Functional Development.........................................49* Chapter V—Planning................................................................51* Chapter VI—Organization...........................................................67* Chapter VII—Communication.........................................................96* Chapter VIII—Culture..............................................................112* Chapter IX—Delegation.............................................................119* Chapter X—Empowerment.............................................................132* Chapter XI—Making it Happen: Execution............................................142* Chapter XII—Accountability........................................................156* Chapter XIII—Performance Management...............................................174* Chapter XIV—Systemizing Your Business.............................................185* Chapter XV—Exit Strategy and Succession Planning..................................198* Chapter XVI—Sale of the Business..................................................220* Chapter XVII—Other Subjects.......................................................229? Conclusion.........................................................................251? About the Author...................................................................253? Appendices.........................................................................255* Appendix I—Business Owners' Personal Roadmap......................................257* Appendix II—Exit-Planning Questionnaire...........................................275* Appendix III—Advisory Boards and Coaching.........................................281* Appendix IV—"TEMENOS".............................................................293* Appendix V—The Power of One.......................................................297

Chapter One

Are You the "Right" CEO for Your Business?

Evaluate Your Qualifications and Desire for the Job

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books on leadership, and this book does not pretend to be one of them. This book is intended only as a simple coaching session for small-business owners to evaluate themselves as candidates for the CEO chair. I don't pretend to teach you leadership here, only to have you examine your qualifications for the job.

What Does It Mean to Be CEO?

While the following pages may be perceived as written for the "CEO-to-be," they are mainly intended for business owners who are positioned in the CEO chair. Whether you are in that position or plan to be, you need to understand—really understand—its implications and demands as well as your desires and qualifications. The two main questions you need to answer are: a) Am I qualified? and b) Do I want to be CEO? Hopefully this section will help you answer both.

Have you appointed yourself CEO of your company? Did you do it because you believe you are the best person to lead the company? Or did you assume the CEO role because you started the company and landed the job by default? Because you are the owner, did you claim the position without evaluating your ability to do the job? Have you thought about what is needed to do the job? Do you know which qualifications are required? Do you know which traits you must have? Have you considered—really considered—what the job calls for? Have you created a job description for the position to see whether you qualify? Are you the right person to lead the company to the next level and beyond?

Jack Welch said of leadership for CEOs: "The ideal leader is courageous, strong, persistent, and wise—but what really separates him or her from the pack is passion and vision. It's not enough to be a skilled administrator and world-class manager; no, to be a true leader, you need the passion of your dreams and a vision for how to make them real. Passion and vision are transforming forces that will fail unless you fuse them into a powerful source for change".

So if we accept what Jack said as a real prerequisite of good leadership, as the CEO of your business you must have or develop that passion and vision. If you started your business and built it to what it is today, you have the passion and most likely have a vision, a vision for what you want to do with your business and what you want to get out of it. Consequently, you have the two things Jack demands; now you need to decide whether you have the talent and want to be CEO.

Your Primary Aim

As part of your evaluation where you need to see whether the CEO job is for you, consider your "primary aim" in life. Your primary aim is the vision necessary to bring your business to life and your life to the business, understanding that the business should not be your entire life. (Your business should be part of your life and "apart" from your life.)

Your primary aim provides you with a purpose in life and the energy to work on it. It is your greater motivator and the driver of your business activities. Ask yourself the following:

? What do I value most?

? What kind of life do I want?

? What is I truly love in my life?

? How would I like people to perceive me?

? What would I like to be doing _ years from now?

? What material things are important to me?

? How much money would I need to do the things I wish to do?

? What is important to me?

Don't take these questions lightly; put much thought into them and be honest with yourself. Whatever your answers, they are okay and you should not feel bad about them. The most important thing is for you to be happy and do what you like and have what you like; everything else is secondary, because without your happiness you wouldn't be successful.

Your Development as CEO

Have you thought about the demands and qualifications of the CEO position? Are those demands in line with your goals and what you like to do? Do you feel eminently qualified for the position? A self-analysis is an essential part of the development. You must be candid in answering the following:

What do you have and what does the job entail?

CEO job description: Do you really understand what the job is? Start by writing the job description of your present functions (i.e., what you do every day). Next write (or get help from your business coach to write) the job description for the CEO position. Take action.

Is the CEO position what you really like...