Understanding the Balance Sheet

Members from experiential business learning group Leaders Forum 42 enjoyed a session full of great content and insight from Simon Kelly, (pictured, right). Simon waved his financial magic wand over a Balance Sheet – like magic, the scales fell away from our eyes as he blew away the myths and the mystic terminology that had previously fogged our vision.

At this critical time in the world’s economy, everyone is telling us “Cash is King” – Simon explained exactly why.

• He helped us to get behind the numbers and find out what our Balance Sheets are really telling us.
• He explained 8 key ratios behind the balance sheet which we should be aware of that will help us understand the true strength, or otherwise, of any business.
• He showed us how to improve our cash flow, which in turn will help us work with our bank as we will know more about their questions and what is behind them.
• Above all he helped us to improve the management and utilisation of our business assets.

Joanna Jesson,
Chairman Leaders Forum 42

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates peer groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. To hear great speakers like this every month and engage in The Board You Could Never Afford®, or to find a local group near you, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

 

Leadership at Sea – Who comes through?

Leaders Forum 2, chief executive mentoring and experiential learning group (with members from Central England) worked with Simon Walker this month.  Simon spoke to the group about his experiences as skipper of BT Global Challenge yacht Toshiba in 1996-7 and then as CEO of the business that organises the Challenge.  He did an exceptional job of drawing parallels between the lessons he learned then and the difficult job of leading a business through these stormy times.

4 key points really spoke to the business leaders present that morning:

In challenging times it CRUCIAL to clarify:
• Purpose (where are we heading?)
• Goals (what have we got to do to get there?)
• Roles (who has to do what to make it happen?)

Organisational change and turbulent market forces make it really important to keep revisiting these points to ensure they fit to the current situation:

1. Communicate, communicate, communicate: when the pressure is on it is important to increase the level of communication to ensure that everyone understands what is going on and their role in it.
2. Sort yourself out first: choose YOUR attitude – this will set the tone of the response from everyone else in the organisation. Real leaders choose and create the behaviour that they behave.
3. Cut up the elephant: break large and daunting tasks down into small chunks so that the people can see how they can succeed.
4. Finally – CELEBRATE successes. Even in the most difficult of times there are some positive things going on around you. Take some of these as an excuse to celebrate (even if just with a few doughnuts or a pizza) – it will give your crew a lift and remind them that there is life beyond the storm.

Simon did a great job of ensuring that his session was relevant to our members’ businesses.

Peter Pritchett, Chairman Leaders Forum 2

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates peer groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. To hear great speakers like this every month and engage in The Board You Could Never Afford®, to find out more about the Central England Leaders Forum, or to find a local group near you, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

 

Encouraging a Proactive Attitude

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. Part of membership involves members taking their issues to the table and discussing them with their peers.

At a recent meeting, one of the CEO members wanted to explore ideas on how to encourage a staff member to be more proactive.

It was explained that the team member appears reluctant to step up to the plate and accept their responsibilities. The individual is good at identifying a problem and informing others but doesn’t seem to take any initiative or to be proactive in solving the problem.

Members in the group asked all sorts of searching questions and ended up suggesting a variety of approaches:

• The most radical being that the employee should leave the organisation promptly!
• Others included demonstrating and giving specific examples of rewarded pro-activity within the organisation
• It was also suggested that the individual should be asked what stops them from doing the next step
• We also discussed if there is a process for introducing solutions

It was a rapid fire session and the presenter of the issue went away with a clear plan of action.

For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided by our members – however, we do hold open events where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of shared experience and experiential learning alongside fellow leaders, CEOs, MDs and entrepreneurs. To find out how you can take advantage of advice like this every month, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

 

Corporate Lifecycles

Neil Ryder delivered a most interesting and thought provoking session to CEO members of experiential business learning group LF66 recently. This talk is particularly relevant to today as we look to create the most effective, efficient pro-active and integrated businesses.

Neil (pictured right) outlines the roles necessary maximise the effectiveness, efficiency, and pro-active entrepreneurship of an organic organisation.

He talked in depth about the Lifecycle Stages and characteristics of a business, this really has nothing to do with time, as businesses can get stuck at a stage and never move on.

The four roles need constant revisiting to ensure they are in balance. It is this balance that keeps and develops great businesses and keeps them at their prime.

Wayne Gretzky’s (ice hockey player), quote is particularly apt, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Sandy Murray,
Chairman
Leaders Forum 66

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates peer groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. To hear great speakers like this every month and engage in The Board You Could Never Afford®, to find out more about the Scottish Group, or to find a local group near you, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

 

Stress Management for Stressful Times

Members from experiential business learning group Academy Group 32 enjoyed a very timely and useful session on Stress Management with Sue Firth in November. In these times of great business uncertainty and insecurity (not say “fear”) our organisations and the people within them are under elevated levels of stress: this was certainly true of the 11 Chief Executives in the room with Sue!

We learned 3 major signs to watch out for in ourselves and the people who work for us:

1. Sleeplessness, or an inability to switch-off (symptom of excess adrenaline in the body);
2. Digestion problems or loss of appetite (also a sign of excess adrenaline);
3. Stiff or painful neck/shoulders (indicating that our adrenaline reserves are used up and we are flooded with cortisol, which has a similar but even more aggressive effect upon our bodies/systems and causes the muscular pain).

These are the top 5 tips that I took away from Sue to deal with stress:

1. Build exercise into your routine (even light exercise helps use up the excess adrenaline). Works even better if taken outdoors during the daytime – see 4 below;
2. Build “me time” into the day (watching the news in the evening does not count!!);
3. Physical human contact is good: a massage is great for dealing with the cortisol;
4. Get plenty of sunlight (this builds up your serotonin which promotes feelings of happiness and positivity). If you spend much of time indoors, get a daylight lamp to give yourself a 15 minute blast each day;
5. Seek professional help if you are struggling to easily deal with the stress on your own.

To find out more about Sue Firth, visit her website at www.insight-psychology.co.uk

Peter Pritchett,
Chairman Academy Group 32

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates peer groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. To hear great speakers like this every month and engage in The Board You Could Never Afford®, or to find a local group near you, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

 

Senior Executives get made redundant too

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. Part of membership is ‘The Board You Could Never Afford®‘ where members take their issues to the table and discuss with their peers.

An issue recently discussed was that of a Managing Director who had been made redundant after spending over 20 years with the employer.

I’d like to share with you some snippets of the advice offered by fellow members:

• Consider trying Interim work after losing your job
• When you’re made redundant it’s important not to rush into things – take time to get your “head straight” before trying to get interviews
• Make sure that your CV really addresses all your strengths and experience before applying for new jobs. It is often best to get someone with recruitment/agency experience to help you with this as they can see things that you might take for granted

Membership of The Academy for Chief Executives isn’t just about sharing the good times – many members find the support of their fellow members invaluable during difficult times, whether that be the chance of utilising a wider network of business leaders, or simply to talk through a problem or challenge with a sympathetic, but unbiased ear.

The above is just a snippet of the advice given by our members. For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided – however, we do hold open meetings where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of ‘The Board You Could Never Afford®’. To find out how you can take advantage of advice, networking and support like this every month, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.