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Winning Strategies
Playing your position as a CEO
“You can get hurt in there”
By Larry G. Linne
New England Patriots football practice 1987. Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, the famous Boston College quarterback, had joined the team that season, bringing a new level of excitement and energy to the Patriots’ program. We were working on our offense for the upcoming game on Sunday. My position was backup wide receiver, so I was watching the first team go through a drill of working the ball down the field against the backup defensive unit.
The plays were being called quickly, the team was going to the line, and the plays were being executed like a well-oiled machine. It was highly organized chaos, with players coming in and out of the defense based on the different situations and ball placement on the field.
Things were running well when suddenly Coach Raymond Berry blew the whistle. He yelled across the field, “Flutie, get out of there!” I looked at the quarterback position where any knowledgeable football fan would expect to find him. But he wasn’t there. I thought, “Coach Berry must mean someone else.” Then I saw the small quarterback emerge from the midst of all the 300-plus-pound linemen and run off the field.
I thought, what the heck is he doing playing defensive line? Obviously that was Coach Berry’s thought as well. Doug came over next to me, and Coach Berry soon joined us.
The coach asked Doug what he thought he was doing as a 180-pound quarterback playing defensive line with all those 300-pound linemen. Doug responded that he saw one of the guys go out injured and “someone had to go in or we would have had to stop the practice.” Coach Berry reminded Doug of some basic physics about eight 300-pound linemen and what they could do to a 180-pound quarterback in their midst. He said, “You could get hurt in there. We can’t afford to lose you.”
End of story, right? Nope; about 10 minutes later the whistle blew again and the entire scene repeated itself. This time Coach Berry publicly asked Doug to explain his actions. Doug had a great work ethic and had the instinct to just do what needed to be done. He responded: “Coach, someone had to fill the spot.”
It’s clear to anyone who knows football that a small quarterback should play quarterback. If he tries to play defense, even out of good intentions, it’s not going to be the best outcome for him or the team.
A lesson for CEOs
This is a scene that seems to play out in business every day. I recently did a survey of more than 200 CEOs, asking them how much time they spend doing what brings the best results to the organization. The results were shocking. The average amount of time these CEOs spent using what they considered their unique abilities and making their best contributions to the organization was 21% of the time.
When the CEOs were asked why they were doing other things that did not use their best talents, their responses were similar to Doug’s answer to Coach Berry: “Someone has to do it.”
We are experiencing one of the worst economies that many of us have ever faced. We are up against shrinking risks, clients closing doors, work force reduction, and more. Today, more than ever, we have to make sure our agencies are maximizing their best talent. I have found that most CEOs and second-in-commands are people who have proved in the past to produce the highest level of results in a company. But once they get in those first- (CEOs) and second-in-command positions, they don’t seem to have the time to do what they do best. You find them out of position. If ever there was a time to have them doing what they do best, it is NOW! The results most of these people can bring to an organization will guarantee the company’s success.
So how do we get our CEOs and second-in-commands out of the middle of a bunch of 300-pound linemen? That is the theme of my book Make the Noise Go Away — The Power of an Effective Second in Command. I explain how to make the noise go away with techniques and strategies that help both people get back to what they do best.
The book addresses key second-in-command principles to make the noise go away, but I want to share some additional strategies for CEOs to get back in their position and out of non-productive roles.
Strategies for doing what you do best
Identify your talent. What do you do that brings the highest impact to your organization when you do it? Is it selling? Go sell. Is it rain making? Make rain. Is it relationship building? Go build relationships. I think you get the point. I have found that most CEOs struggle even to remember why they used to be so successful. It has been so long since they have done those things that they have forgotten what they were. There is so much “noise” in their companies that they end up doing everything but what they do best.
If you want to make a big impact on your agency, think back to what brought you the greatest success during your years in the business. I am not suggesting that you change positions and take on a different job. I am suggesting that you incorporate your highest and best talents into your job as a CEO and make a big difference in your firm.
Structure your schedule to make the highest and best use of your talent. Once you have identified your talent(s), you should also acquire the energy to focus on using that talent. True, you’ll have to change some behaviors. You can’t do the same things you were doing before and get different results. We’ll get to the elimination of stuff in a few minutes.
Begin by blocking out time each week to do what you do best. Make an appointment with yourself to execute this talent. You need to make these blocked times equal in importance to an appointment with your best client. You cannot cancel or reschedule these appointments with yourself. You will be amazed at how fulfilling it will be to do what you do best.
Be purposeful about what falls off your plate. When I was with the Patriots, I once had Thanksgiving dinner with Steve Moore, a 370-pound offensive tackle, and a very jovial man who loved to talk. We were going through the kitchen, filling our plates. As his pile got bigger and bigger, he stopped and shared his strategy. He explained why the creamy and messy foods should stay in the middle of the plate while the breads and dry foods could go to the edge. His reason: “It doesn’t matter if these items fall off the plate. They don’t make a mess, and they can be replaced.”
When I hear someone use the term “fall off my plate” in business, I go back to this experience and see a vivid image of Steve arranging food on his plate. None of us ever goes home because we have nothing left to do. We always have things that are left at the end of the day and items we choose to let fall off our plate. The question is, do we let the wrong things fall off? Do we let the meat and potatoes of what we do best fall off the plate, or do we let the things fall that don’t matter?
Unfortunately, I see CEOs consistently allowing the most important things to fall off their plates and completing all the unnecessary things. It is time to change how we fill our plates. We have to be purposeful in the beginning. Make sure to put the most important items on there first and let the non-important things go away. Otherwise, things will end up getting very messy.
Be personally accountable. I once was second-in-command to a CEO who realized the importance of each of us doing what he did best. We recognized that both of us were talented at making rain for the organization. My CEO challenged me to a rain-making contest for the year. We went before the entire organization and announced that we would compete to see who would bring in the most business that year.
We agreed that we would announce our results to the employees at our monthly communication meeting. Talk about accountability! I won the competition, but my CEO was the real winner because we both did what we did best and brought a lot of new business to the company. Publicly challenging me to compete with him was a brilliant strategy on his part because it made us both personally accountable to perform at a high level.
Set performance objectives for others. You can’t get items off your plate unless you delegate them to others. You won’t let go of those items unless you give clear performance objectives to the people taking those items. When you think about performance objectives, don’t think about job descriptions. Think about the results you want from the people who hold those positions. Give them written statements of the results you expect in areas where you used to believe you had to be involved. If you measure the results and hold people accountable for those results, you will spend less time doing those things yourself.
Read Make the Noise Go Away. I wrote this book to help you solve this problem. I encourage you to read it and see how using the power of an effective second in command can help make your noise go away.
Back to that Patriots practice session: Doug Flutie was pulled from the defensive line position four times. He had a great work ethic and attitude. But playing defense was a dangerous and reckless thing for a quarterback to do.
It’s just as dangerous and reckless for you as a CEO to get in the middle of areas of your agency where you are not making a big enough difference. If you want to succeed in these turbulent business times, you have to get to where you are spending at least 80% of your time using your highest and best talents. Coach Berry understood this and made sure Doug stayed out of his non-highest areas and moved into his best-use areas. How will you do the same?
The author
Larry G. Linne is president of Sitkins International, which offers The Vertical Growth Experience™ programs exclusively to its private client group. Larry’s background includes agency/brokerage operations and sales management, CEO coaching, sales process consulting, performance management and leadership training.
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