How to Act Like a CEO: 10 Rules for Getting to the Top and Staying There

224 Pages·2000·0.63 MB·English

by  D. A. Benton

HOW

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TO ACTL
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LIKE MA

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Team-Fly®
OTHERBOOKSBYD. 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
MCGRAW-HILL
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DOI: 10.1036/0071374590
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.
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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
CEODecision 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 GreatPeople! 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
vii
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HOW TO ACT LIKE A CEO
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
viii
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
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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 de-
velop a desire to excel and succeed and through sheer hard work
and continuous improvement get there,” says Ed Liddy, CEO of All-
state. “If you’re in business it helps if you’re fortunate to work for
a great CEO. Then be watchful and observe what works and does-
n’t work. And be open to modify your style. But be careful who you
hang around with.”
Truth is, as good as you are now you probably could do about
1000 percent more than you thought you could. And you can do it
starting today. “Some CEOs think the day they become CEO is the
high point of their career. They ought to feel they’re just beginning,”
says Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric. And really, every day
you are beginning anew and what is required to be the best today
is to beat the best.
Being ambitious, you (and I) pretty much have to make one of
two choices in our quest for career goals. Either to
(cid:1) Run.
(cid:1) Or, run faster—and more efficiently.
A web-based start-up CEO says, “It’s like you pass the finish line
of the marathon and people say, ‘Thanks a lot, but you still gotta
run.’” And as Gabrielle Saveri writes in Business Week, “So they take
a deep breath, another step, and don’t even think about stopping.”
Your race to become a champion has started if you’ve come far
enough in your career to be interested in reading this book. You’re
likely described as “a very strong contributor where people have a
x