"Accountability breeds response-ability." -- Stephen R. Covey Once you reach the uppermost layers of management, Accountability becomes Efficiency—and as a C-Suite manager, one of your first tasks should be to implement Efficiency wherever necessary. If you've made it to the C-Suite, you didn't get there by accident. You were elevated to the position because of your demonstrated SuperCompetence in all aspects of your work life. It's a truism that you can't be SuperCompetent without having a highly-developed sense of Accountability; and as one of your company's leaders, you're a cornerstone upon which the entire organization rests. This means that you have to set the Efficiency example for your team to follow. The buck stops with you because it has to; after all, where else can it go, … [Read more...]

"The older I get, the more I see a straight path where I want to go. If you’re going to hunt elephants, don’t get off the trail for a rabbit." -- T. Boone Pickens, American financier At the lofty C-Suite level, the SuperCompetent Key of Attention transforms into Focus. Suddenly, your capacity to concentrate on your work and only your work becomes paramount—much more critical that it was before, if only because your actions impact the company more completely than they ever have. A distracted, overwhelmed CEO or VP can be much more damaging than a middle manager who can't keep his or her head in the game. Worse, the higher you go, the more distractions you have to deal with. When you're just Josephine Schmoe down in Cubical Land, it's hard enough to filter out electronic distractions, … [Read more...]