DEAR CEO,

I suggest, you choose one day a week to be a "head-of-the-company" day.

Often I am asked, "How will I know what to do or think about on that day?"
Obviously you cannot afford to waste any day. So, here are a few suggestions of what to do on your ONCE-A-WEEK day.

1/Secure meetings with the CEOs of other companies. (see #12) Use your circle of colleagues, and be resourceful at finding ways to be referred to people in top leadership positions. The probability of securing a meeting with a high level person increases significantly if you are a known entity; even being slightly known is better than being unknown. You must try to call to set these appointments. This is a day to include that activity...for about an hour or so.

2/ Plan and Work on your own and your company’s PR. Perhaps it is the day to meet with your PR people.

3/ Practice articulating your business succinctly. Everyone wants to know what you do, who your customers are, and why customers are willing to pay for it. Use some time to get even more prepared to provide concise answers to basic questions concerning your company's value proposition. Imagine yourself at a conference where someone asks, "What do you do?" Be sure you are prepared with three simple statements that says it succinctly. (If you have a speech coming up you can use this time to plan some of your comments)

4/ Think through and quantify your market opportunity. Every business is going after a multibillion-dollar market. Get specific about your realistic share of the total market opportunity. Memorize these numbers so when you talk to people these numbers will be yours to use.

5/ Review follow-up actions and deliverables of your employees, contractors, and vendors and contact them via email to remind them of their deliverables. It is your responsibility to motivate people by using polite but strong and regular persistence. Setting people up to succeed will be appreciated over time. This is a good time to send them email notes about what is coming up that is due and also to send out emails that praise what had been done correctly.

6/ Be thinking about your management and support team and how to make it better. An incomplete team is OK but banks and investors don't respect broken teams. If there are differences or disagreements within management, solve them. Keep a current plan.

7/ THINK ABOUT GETTING MORE MONEY: Don't wait until you are out of cash to start raising money: This spotlights poor management and faulty operational processes. Think how you will use more capital and what it will accomplish for you and for investors.

8/ Use this LEADERSHIP day to describe how you will use additional capital and head count. Work on the words to sufficiently describe what the company milestones are and what stage the company expects to reach as a result of growth.

9/ Reconsider your Advisory Board and your BOD and do this often. Be critical about whether or not you have a strong enough board.

NOTE: A strong Board of Directors or Board of Advisors exemplifies the entrepreneur's understanding of how to leverage strategic relationships beyond the conventional operations of the company. The ability to attract strong board members and advisors reflects the value of your company.

10/ You must use this CEO day to design and articulate and update a vision of the company's future opportunity. As CEO, you must operate with a vision that you can clearly articulate.

11/On your CEO day, answer these questions honestly and often:

o Do you have a management team that demonstrates their dedication to prudent operations.

o Do you know how to manage the company burn rate as it's tied to revenue,

o Do you know how and when to expand, when to re-invent and when to push ahead of the market?

12/ Go to lunch just for building a relationship with someone at a high level - a member of the media or someone who was hard to get to meet with you. This lunch is not about business: this is just to build your skills of meeting people in high places and talking casually. ( At lunch you will be modest, not sell anything, not even think about what's in it for your company....this is just a relationship meeting - a chance to ask quality questions; to learn and observe.)


NOTE: I HAVE FOUND THAT ON YOUR ONCE-A-WEEK-DAY, IT'S HELPFUL TO USE ANOTHER OFFICE WHERE TYPICAL RESPONSIBILITIES CAN’T REACH YOU. LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE ON THIS DAY FOR ROUTINE DECISION-MAKING. BELIEVE ME, PEOPLE WILL PUT OUT THEIR OWN FIRES.