Top 5 Priorities of a Newly Appointed CEO

Top 5 Priorities of a Newly Appointed CEO Recently I undertook some work with a client  who is a newly appointed CEO of a large company. He had been working in the company for a number of years and when the previous CEO resigned he threw his hat in the ring for the job. To his surprise, and indeed others, he got it! He really immersed himself   talking to staff, clients, his direct reports all laudable things to do. But the result? He felt completely overwhelmed and was becoming increasingly frustrated as he felt he was not making any progress. To his credit, he recognized that he needed some external help and that is how he and I started to work together. Interestingly, we first connected on LinkedIn the power of social media! His first conversation with me started with him bemoaning his time management which always raises a flag to me. I genuinely believe people blame time management, when the management of time is not the issue. Poor use of time can be a consequence but I digress! He said: To be honest, I am not totally clear what are the really important things to do now that I am CEO. A brave admission, and one I really admired him for saying. For the purpose of this article, lets call my client Tom (obviously not his real name!) and I thought the work we did together was worth sharing with you, as I think it will help others in similar situations. So, I asked Tom to share with me what was on his list. The answer to his challenge was in his response. He shared his list with me and it ran to over 30 items! It is no wonder he was suffering from overwhelm and frustration. The consequence of his list was that Tom was splitting himself into little pieces and sharing that around the organization, and was simply dipping in and out of situations. There was no real focus to his work. So, we set about creating his dashboard of the important things to do. Research has clearly proven that for any business, no matter how large or small, there are only 5/6 things that need to be on your dashboard to ensure that your focus is on the right things.  Those 5/6 items will be different depending on your role â€" whether it is CEO, CFO, Sales Director or COO. So, back to Tom â€" what are his important things to do? What must be on his dashboard? Having worked through a process we ended up with 5 items that would shape his planning and solve his “time management” challenge. They are: 1) Figures: Tom will now review the top line figures on a weekly basis. We agreed what figures he will be focusing on and developed reports to keep a focus on those figures alone. We also made certain that these were the key figures not all the figures! 2) Strategy implementation: We created reports that clearly showed progress on the implementation of the key strategic initiatives, where any deviation was occurring, and the remedial action being taken. Again, the focus was on the key initiatives. 3) Tom’s team: Tom now has a weekly meeting with his direct reports that lasts no more than 45 minutes to update him on any key issues. We also agreed that every month Tom will have individual coaching sessions with his people â€" and the emphasis is on coaching! 4) Organizational culture: We all know that having the right culture has a direct impact on the performance of a business, so Tom needs to spend time on how he influences the culture of his organization, and how that culture is cascaded down the business. 5) External market: As CEO Tom must spend time analyzing and researching the market so that he is fully aware of the external environment he and his business is operating in. Tom committed to focus on these 5 items as his important things to do for a month, and his schedule reflected that. (Will tell you how we did that in another piece, but it worked wonders for him!) Why a month to start with? Well after a month of doing it every day you have developed a habit! His results? Well, Tom is now clearer on what is important and what is not. His diary is worked around these 5 key items and he is now feeling a lot less overwhelmed and his “time management” has greatly improved. He really feels much more in control, and the feedback from his team has been so positive. Most importantly, Tom is now operating as a much more effective CEO. I am working with quite a number of CEOs right now to help them get absolute clarity on their dashboard and how to make it really work for them. This is a simple, straightforward process that, if adhered to, ensures that you are not overwhelmed in your role and will be much more effective in the process. Would love to hear your thoughts! Leave them in the comments below.

Resume Cover Letter Template Free

Resume Cover Letter Template FreeThere are many different resume cover letter templates that you can download for free. However, it is important to remember that the format you use to create your own cover letter will be determined by the company you are applying for. Whether they use the word 'objective'business'.For example, if you are looking for a job at a company that is new to your area, you should always include a letter in your cover letter, which states that you are completely qualified for the position. In addition, you can also provide a great deal of information about yourself, such as your skills, educational background, and work experience. This will make the application process go much smoother for the interviewer.However, if you are already employed and are applying for a job where your resume should be on display, you should also take into consideration how you can make your letter more professional. A good resume cover letter template will help you do this. One way to do this is to update your resume information and make sure it includes all of the relevant information the interviewer is looking for.If you are interested in finding a resume cover letter template free, there are several places you can find these templates online. However, keep in mind that there are many sites that offer very generic templates and some do not contain any professional formatting information. You need to be careful about choosing the right template.Sometimes, they may contain information that is outdated or wrong. Many people use templates to customize their letter, but the drawback is that many sites do not come with the proper formatting information. If the layout is incorrect, then the person who will read your letter will most likely not understand what you are trying to say.To avoid this, it is important to make sure you have the proper formatting information on your resume cover letter template. If you are not sure how to go about creating your own letter, make sure you ask the company that will be reviewing your letter to provide you with some helpful guidelines. When you have an idea of what you need to include, it will make the job much easier for you.In addition, the main problem with a free resume cover letter template is that it will usually not be very user friendly. Even if the information is available online, you should still make sure that you can edit it. The reason being is that you do not want to make the mistake of submitting your letter, only to have the details changed because you did not read it carefully.Some of the programs that are used to create the templates, such as Microsoft Word, should be able to read a document and make any necessary edits. It is important to remember that the layout and content of the letter are going to determine the outcome of your letter. If you are not happy with the layout, then you should consider contacting the company in order to request a revision.

Online Business Tools

Online Business Tools At our career coaching firm, we work with a lot of people considering opening their own business. We also network with other organizations like therapists, lawyers, financial planners and so on. Thus, we interact regularly with other people trying to run service-based businesses. We spend a lot of time developing and improving our business and this strengthens our ability to guide people in building their business or just understanding if running a business is right for them. This week we are sharing a few of the technologies and services we use that have made a big difference in our business and we feel can make a big difference in yours. Zoho CRM A CRM (customer relationship management) tool is invaluable to a business that sells to individuals or individual companies. It is the hub of your customer data including contact information, communication history, and appointments (in our case). It is an online service which is extremely handy in sharing all the information with our team and making it readily available from just about anywhere. Zoho is rather affordable theres a free version and a very well-equipped professional edition. The interface is very friendly and comes with decent support. Google Apps Google apps is a suite of related online tools that you helps your employees connect and your business run smoothly. Our calendar system, internal file system and email run on Google Apps. Plus, Google Apps ties into a number of other online applications through their ecosystem, for example, mail chimp, spanning backup, survey monkey, docusign and so on. Gmail Google Apps uses Gmail for its email service. Gmails interface, search ability, talk feature and massive storage is a huge benefit. We found that using our website hosting provider for processing our email was a liability because there was a lot of additional work to setup email addresses if we switched hosts. Also, its great having everything stored online it means our business is with us, on our phones, at all times. Google Drive Its not easy (or cheap) to share files with other members of your company. Its even more challenging to collaborate on documents, spreadsheets and presentations with co-workers and clients. Google Drive has simplified this by letting us store any type of file in a shared, secure folder. Additionally, Google documents and spreadsheets are one of the best collaboration tools available where you can share access to a file and even watch other users edit a file in real-time. Google Calendar Sharing calendars with Microsoft Outlook and an Exchange server is expensive, requires maintenance and isnt fun for business owners. Google calendar makes it easy to see others calendars and allows us to create calendars for resources (like meeting rooms) that make life manageable. The setup is fast and the functionality is very comparable to calendars large corporations use. Spanning Backup After Zoho CRM and Google Apps, we consider Spanning Backup our most important tool. Earlier in the year, we struggled with how to effectively backup Google Apps if we lost that data (calendar appointments, email, documents on drive) we would lose our momentum and countless hours trying to replace it. Google doesnt ensure your data so an additional step is needed. We found Spanning Backup and they take care of daily backups of email, calendar and Drive. It gives us peace of mind. Plus, the tool is very good at making those backups accessible and enabling you to restore individual items. Its really a management tool to make sure we can undo a change we didnt want and verify information from the past whether thats for internal or client purposes. Heres a link to signup https://spanningbackup.com/s5m5/UVNWN7. If you use this promo code youll save $5/license: UVNWN7. These were just a few of the tools we use to run our business. These tools have enabled us to make tremendous strides in efficiently running our career coaching business. We can directly see the positive impact on our bottom line and hope you benefit from these tools as well. What tools do you use that are essential to running your service business?  

5 keys for success if youre leading a startup

5 keys for success if youre leading a startup Being an entrepreneur starts with an idea and a vision of the future. These can be enough to get a new company started, raise money, and bring on the first few employees. The real motivation, though, the one that keeps you going after a tough day or two, is the recognition that customers are genuinely excited about your product or service. Ellen Rubin, CEO of ClearSky Data, an early-stage company building a breakthrough solution in enterprise infrastructure, knows this well. Rubin, a three-time entrepreneur, explains that it’s easy to keep your internal team moving when prospective customers are as excited as you are. “As much as startups are fueled by an entrepreneur’s ambition and goals, making customers happy â€" and keeping them that way â€" is the real driver,” she said. However, a startup’s longer-term success demands more from its founder than just some excited customers. I spoke with Rubin to get her advice and best practices for entrepreneurs to guide their young companies to success. Here are her five tips: 1. Team Communication Is Everything At the beginning, it won’t be difficult to keep employees informed of every decision. With every new addition to your team, it’s important to take a look at different processes and adjust them to ensure they’ll work as your company grows. Functional silos can form quickly if founders aren’t proactive. Good communication and transparency are the hallmarks of any successful organization. These actions keep employees engaged and support strong team collaboration. As a business grows, Rubin recommends maintaining a commitment to open forums also makes it clear to managers they need to interact with their teams and keep everyone engaged. Employees need to know they can always ask questions and suggest better ways to do things, and it’s up to the company’s leaders to make that clear. 2. Trust the Hard Data and Execute The decisions a founder makes will determine the success and direction of her company. Employ hard data to inform decisions large and small in order to focus employees on demonstrating real value and to keep all decision-makers on the same page. This practice also prevents bias from clouding the decision process in the face of tough choices like investments and roadmap decisions. Instead, using hard data to determine which position to hire next or which technology tradeoffs are warranted will ensure you make the best possible decision. 3. Follow Your Instincts and Stick To Your Core Values Unfortunately, you won’t always have hard data. The data might be inconclusive or simply unavailable, and at the end of day, you still have to make a decision. When this happens, you have to trust your gut â€" the same gut you trusted when you decided you could turn a great idea into a viable business. In the absence of hard data, draw from your instincts, as well as your company culture, values, and goals. You may not always be right, but there’s merit in sticking to your core principles and standing behind your choices. 4. Find a Business Partner Who Complements Your Strengths “This is a common one that’s shared among entrepreneurs, but it begs repeating because it’s the truth. And it can make or break your early-stage growth,” said Rubin. Does your co-founder pass the “Chicago airport test?” In other words, could you find yourself delayed in an airport with him or her for long hours and still be able to arrive at your destination and deliver a powerful presentation together? Your founding partner and other early team members are people with whom you’re going to spend a lot of time. Think about the characteristics that complement you professionally and as a person, and seek people who can help you challenge your assumptions and contribute different ways of problem-solving. 5. Never Stop Learning It’s okay to admit that you don’t know everything. Rubin says that when she learned this in her own career, she became a better employee, manager and, eventually, founder. It’s not uncommon for young executives and others to think not knowing the answer to a question is a bad thing. Key milestone events, successes, and mistakes are all learning moments. As any company starts to grow, it’s likely that “holes” in expertise and domain knowledge will appear. This means that you and your management team need to create a learning culture to encourage everyone to keep growing along with the company’s needs. The best way to do this is to encourage people from different functional areas to sit with each other and share their different areas of expertise. It’s amazing how much great input can come from applying cross-functional knowledge to a complex problem. But it’s equally important to encourage employees to look outside the company for experts and advisors who can help wrestle a tough issue to the ground. When people understand that ongoing learning is a company norm, everyone wins.

Did you choose the right college major - Hallie Crawford

Did you choose the right college major Do you regret your college major? This article from Oregon Business Report talks about the statistics of workers  satisfaction with their college degree. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 36 percent of workers with college degrees said they wish they had chosen a different major in college. More than one-in-four (26 percent) said the market for jobs in their chosen field worsened from the time they entered college and when they graduated. I was talking to one of my group coaching clients recently and she shared her story with me. She said that after college she figured out exactly what she wanted to do. Unfortunately her degree had nothing to do with her ideal career. She felt she wasted all that money and time on a degree that she’ll never use. Now she wishes that she had known to work with a career coach early on in college to help point her in the right direction. It is frustrating to have that feeling and I hear it over and over again from clients. With the right degree, many people would have more opportunities that are in line with their ideal career goals. Sometimes people go as far as grad school without really knowing what they want to do. I have many clients who have done this and now have jobs and careers that they hate. It can be difficult deciding what you want to do with your life when you’re in college. That’s why it’s important to have help and support. Surrounding yourself with friends and family who want to see you succeed is a good thing, but they also may be hesitant, or even discouraging about your hopes and dreams. A career coach and mentor can be beneficial to young college students. Having reliable support and advice is a huge asset to keep your ideas and goals in check for your future. The last thing you want to do is become one of those 36 percent of workers who regret your college major. Get clear on what it is you want as soon as you can â€" but especially before you go to grad school. Click here for more information on career coaching for college graduates. Career Counseling Coach

Top Resume Writing for 14 Year Olds Reviews!

Top Resume Writing for 14 Year Olds Reviews! What to Do About Resume Writing for 14 Year Olds Before It Is Too Late When an employer bothers to call you, you desire the fine person who took the opportunity to dial you to feel like they made a sensible choice in calling you for a work interview. From 13 you are able to receive a part-time job that can be a fantastic way to earn some excess cash as you're still at school. The same targeted resume won't get the job done for each and every job, and you will need a different one per work opening. How to compose a resume for a 15 year-old. Top Choices of Resume Writing for 14 Year Olds You need your resume to clearly demonstrate the employer what sort of employee you will be. While if you're asking for a job as an executive of some massive corporation. While you almost certainly don't have much job experience still, you can tell the prospective employer what you're good at. Even when you have zero work experience or significant e ducation as a 15-year-old, it's important to compose a resume when applying for work. On-line tutorial or webinar training may be a huge aid in getting you up to speed on the hottest trends and data in your area, and they give valuable information for your resume. If you are able to type quite well and it's pertinent to the job, take an on-line typing test to learn your speed. Depending on what kind of software you've got, you could possibly be able to select from several templates that let you to readily create your resume. If you're searching to expand your understanding of specific software, you are able to learn on your own time utilizing online tutorials through a service like Lynda.com. The Characteristics of Resume Writing for 14 Year Olds Professional resume examples following the most recent trends. Looking at examples can allow you to make a decision as to what type of content you should include, together with how to format your resume. It ought to be simple to re ad and look like an expert document. If you include all the information above when you write your resume, you will have a fairly good document to share. The Key to Successful Resume Writing for 14 Year Olds Demonstrate your understanding of new technologies in the event the job requires it. Therefore, it's important that you know about those strengths. See whether your tech skills can be woven into an accomplishment to demonstrate the way the technology was used to accomplish a desirable result, states Isaacs. The One Thing to Do for Resume Writing for 14 Year Olds Use the template along with the guide which explains what information to put in each individual section. For instance, the job may require someone with expert-level experience by means of a software program, which usually means you understand how to manipulate every function. Hard skills Hard skills are extremely definable and measurable like typing at a particular speed, or the capacity to use a particular soft ware package (e.g. Microsoft Word). However, keep to the template you select and don't get carried away. Bear in mind you don't need to sound out of touch. It's very simple to say you have a specific soft skill due to the fact that many folks do on their CV. however, it's a lot more powerful if you're able to offer proof that you have that skill. It is possible to easily test whether someone does or doesn't have a distinct hard skill. The History of Resume Writing for 14 Year Olds Refuted Employers will be pleased with the commitment needed to stay involved for several years and demonstrate upward progress. Just make certain it's really great.

The Lost Secret of Best Resume Writing Service for Executives in 2018

The Lost Secret of Best Resume Writing Service for Executives in 2018 The Importance of Best Resume Writing Service for Executives in 2018 It is very important that you work with an executive resume writing service which brings out the finest in you and can help you uncover what you may have overlooked. If you see a service we haven't evaluated, don't hesitate to drop us a message and we're going to take a look whenever possible. What service are you going to hire. The service ought to be able to supply you with a fast breakdown of some areas they intend to improve on your new resume. In case you have any questions, you can get in touch with our friendly support team night and day and get immediate assistance. When you would like to find the best resume help, you may simply follow our lead. You need assistance with making a resume. To boost the possibility of getting the right job, you must seek the help of professional resume writers. Best Resume Writing Service for Exec utives in 2018 - Dead or Alive? Within seconds, hiring managers will ascertain if your executive resume is well worth another glance. The surface of your executive resume's very first page is deemed prime real estate. The very first part of an executive resume should be simplified into three distinct sections. So you can depend on the tailored resumes for various businesses. Selecting a Professional Resume Writer is a great idea for the majority of professionals since resume writing is a distinctive skill. Focusing on the legal profession for a niche, there aren't many resume writing services that come near The Writing Guru in regards to legal resumes. You can trust the very best essay help online. Scannable resumes need specific page designs because computer scanners cannot read certain products. You don't need to be worried about your personal details that could be viewed, as we handle the matter on a safe network. The service utilizes an individual approach for writing all sorts of personalized documents, including cover letters and other sorts of employment-related correspondence. The web site does not have any limitations concerning your professional experience and specialization. The good thing is that the best resume writers aren't necessarily the costliest ones.