Winning Strategies
Putting your ideas into action
A Second in Command can make CEO’s ideas a reality
By Larry G. Linne
CEOs constantly come up with new ideas from a variety of sources: business conferences and special events; books and trade magazines; and professional peers. Beyond its being an integral part of their job, it’s fun for them and adds value to their company.
Most CEOs suffer from a condition known as “wrote down before.” They write down a great idea, but because they never follow up on it, they repeat the process and write it down again at the next conference. Typically, this fruitless endeavor results in a pile/file of ideas that ends up sitting on a cabinet or credenza. Every time the CEO looks at it, he or she is reminded of all of the great ideas that have yet to be implemented.
Since it’s impossible to weigh every idea and implement the best ones immediately, most CEOs feel compelled to file them away for “the future.” That way, there’s always the possibility that they’ll be put into practice—at some indefinite point down the road. But if the only available filing cabinet is the memory bank of the busy CEO, most of those ideas will be lost or soon forgotten. Consequently, most CEOs only dream of retaining and implementing them.
An effective Second in Command, or SIC, will assume this burden by routinely soliciting ideas from the CEO, prioritizing each one and then implementing them at the appropriate time. Along the way, the SIC makes sure to keep the CEO informed as ideas progress into tangible results.
At one time, I was working as the SIC for a CEO who I doubt has gone a day in his life without having a new idea. He had files, piles and lists of great ideas for the business. Early one morning he summoned me to the conference room, where he had compiled what appeared to be a paper tower. He informed me that we were going to go through the two-foot stack of his ideas to choose the ones that I would implement.
That’s when I had an idea. As a distraction, I asked him to get his organizer so we could start. While he was gone, I took three pieces of paper and wrote one word in large print on each of them: “YES,” “NO” and “FUTURE.” They were side by side on the table when he came back into the room. I informed him that we would go through his stack of great ideas and place them in the three piles according to the following criteria.
If the item met our immediate needs, followed our strategic direction and would give us an acceptable ROI, we would place it in the “YES” file. I would be responsible for making sure the items in this pile were immediately moved forward into action items.
If the item was a great idea but should be executed at a later date, we placed it in the “FUTURE” file. I would place those items in a file to review at our annual planning session.
If the item did not meet our needs, was outside of our company direction or would not give us an acceptable ROI, it would go in the “NO” file. That file would be placed in the trash before we left the conference room.
This CEO had quite a sense of humor. He thought this was a great idea and was excited about getting started. He directed me to retrieve some markers from the other room so that we could write on the papers.
When I returned, he had placed all three pages upside down in one pile and had written, “YES SIR, RIGHT AWAY SIR” on the top page. He said, “This is how I would like to proceed with the project.” We both laughed—though I think he was half serious—and went back to the three piles. Despite the humor of the situation, he was revealing why most of his ideas never got off the ground: lack of follow-through and follow-up.
He thought that if he had ideas and shared them with others in the organization, then those ideas were probably getting executed. Unfortun-ately, as our meeting showed, that wasn’t the case. All those ideas we worked on that day had gone through the first two steps of that process. He did think of them and he did share them in multiple forms. What he didn’t do was categorize and prioritize the ideas that needed to be implemented by an SIC.
After our meeting, though, all of the ideas had been categorized and prioritized. This freed up the CEO to think of new great ideas and business concepts, knowing that his other ideas weren’t lost.
We continued this process with his future ideas, one at a time. Ultimately, the company enjoyed greater prosperity by capitalizing on his great ideas.
Every CEO should have these monthly sessions with an SIC to generate, prioritize and hand off new ideas. The effective SIC will facilitate this process by analyzing the organization’s ability to implement ideas and build a communication system to keep the CEO informed as these ideas progress.
Regardless of your position in an agency, resolve to remember, retain and implement new ideas in 2008. Build a system with an effective Second in Command to get the best ideas implemented, and you will have the freedom to keep those innovative juices flowing.
The author
Larry Linne is president of The Sitkins Group, Inc., which offers the Vertical Growth Experience™ programs exclusively to a private client group known as The Sitkins 100™. These programs are delivered through training, coaching and networking experiences that literally force vertical growth in an agency. Larry’s background includes agency operations and sales management, CEO coaching, sales process consulting, performance management and leadership training. This article was an excerpt from his forthcoming book, Make the Noise Go Away—The Power of an Effective Second in Command.