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CEO's Diary: One small moment of inspiration

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15th Jun 2009
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Not for the first time the CEO's had a good idea whilst walking the dog

June 22 – I was going to spend the weekend considering management issues. But I didn’t. There was DIY and gardening to do, and then family to visit. Being CEO does not (despite all rumours to the contrary) stop you being a human being.

But maybe not thinking about work was helpful. Because on Sunday evening whilst dragging the dog out (I needed the walk much more than she did) I spotted one of those traffic signs in a relatively remote location that is solar powered.

And it dawned on me that this might be the answer to a perennial problem we have when dealing with external power supply, and fitting it cost effectively.

Why haven’t we looked at this before? I don’t know. But we are now, I can tell you.

The dog needs more walks. Maybe that’s the solution to my problem. 

 * * *

June 19 – I gather normal service has been resumed here. It’s been quite odd to be told not to write for a day or two. It goes against all my instincts.

But I haven’t wasted the time. What I have tried to do is work out what my various musings of late have been aiming at. I suspect those who read this diary will have appreciated my own sense of dissatisfaction with what has been happening here, and the fact that this has been, as some have suggested, reflected in increased staff absenteeism.

My issues may be belated feedback to the massive change in expectation of what the future held for me: maybe that is true of others as well. A year ago we were beginning buy-out negotiations; hopes for a very different climate within the company were high. And it did not happen. That was the right decision. It would have been madness to have laden ourselves with debt last autumn, but it’s also pointless saying this has not had an impact on expectations. I did not expect to be running this company now with this ownership structure subject to the constraints we still have, and in the current market climate. And there’s no point pretending this is what I wanted:, it very obviously was not.

I think this in itself is something I’ve found it surprising to realise. It’s been head down survival. Now I have had time to think. No doubt others have as well. And where are we going now? That’s the big question? The immediate post buy-out plan of last autumn looks like a bit of a lash up now to keep things together at the time. But has it done its job? Even more important, and this is the risky question to ask – have I done my job? And what anyway is this job about now?

Heck, I don’t know, is the honest answer. But I do know (and I do know the AM who still reads this stuff) knows that we have to develop a new plan for this company. She knows because she might help work on it. But before we can develop anything I have to work out what the vision is.

And that’s what I’m struggling with. Tell me – what does a company look like now? And are all those most basic of assumptions, like growth is good, still valid?

I don’t know.

And I need to.

* * *

June 16 – It’s usually the case that when visiting more far flung customers (and it has to be done) that I try to stack visits in the same area.

Today it as East Anglia’s turn (with apologies to all who live there for being described as ‘far flung’ – but let’s be candid, you only go to East Anglia because you want to – not because you’re on your way to somewhere else – and that sort of defines ‘far flung’ in my opinion).

This patch was always fertile ground for us when East was in charge. Confusingly (and you’ll have to read back here some way to find out why) East now manages the western division and Hitchin is in charge of the east. And East is getting better performance out of the west than the previous manager did but Hitchin is not making as much progress in the east as East did (follow that?)

What’s the point of saying all that? It’s this. Should I worry about this? Is it the case that East took over from a poor manager so got the better deal and Hitchin took over from a good one, so was bound to make slower progress? Or is it that there’s some luck in here? Or have I really got a problem to address?

These things I can only decide in two ways. One is by seeing what’s really happening on the ground – hence the visits. The other is by asking myself whether I’m asking the right questions (hence this agonising).

On the ground I was pretty happy. Hitchin is keeping people happy. He is holding his own with customers, as was apparent from the meetings. Converting opportunities to sales is hard right now. I really have no reason to doubt he’s doing his best.

So, it’s back to me. Should I apply the ‘comparison’ tests implicit in the approach noted i.e. this year was better than last, growth is not ever upward and so on (about which I’ve been asking a lot of questions of late), most of which say Hitchin is not as good as expected? Or should I simply appraise now and ask ‘do I think we have anyone who could do better?’

The real answer is that the data is misleading. The reality is Hitchin is doing as well as anyone might, I think. So I’ll politely ignore all the accounting data, back a hunch and offer him my praise.

But I have to work out why. Which is half the reason why I write this.
 

***

June 15 – Shareholder meeting arranged.

Accounts and long commentary sent (they won’t read it, so long is always better than short).

A dividend has been proposed. Not what they got a year ago, but better than expected. I hope they agree.

And as ever, I know I should feel more about this, and strive more because I know these are the people I’m meant to be working for – but surely I’m not the only manager who wonders if that’s really true?

Are the shareholders really the people who matter most to me? Now I know mine are particularly cantankerous and perpetually in defiant mood, but I can’t be alone in thinking that they’re not really the most important people in the business, can I?

After all, if I succeed in keeping the staff, customers, suppliers, tax authorities, other authorities and Uncle Tom Cobbly happy in roughly that order (who is Uncle Tom Cobbly, by the way?) then they’ll get what they want as a consequence – which is cash. If I don’t keep all those others happy they, broadly speaking, won’t get what they want.

So is their dividend an epiphenomenon of my getting all else right (where did that come from?) or my main objective?

Answers on the back of £50 note please, via AcxcountingWEB.

* * *

June 12 - #1 and I finished the first quarter’s results for us today.

I can’t say I’m chuffed. We have our heads above water.
We can pay a dividend, of course.

But when you’ve been brought up to a diet of growth then standing still (and going backwards in some areas, let’s be honest) is hard to accept, however much you know it is not all your fault, and may simply be unavoidable.

I try to be positive. Deep down I am unreformed in my commitment to returning to the old trajectory.

But I do sometimes wonder whether there is a deeper lesson in this recession, which is that simple indicators such as steady growth may not be the best.

I’ll have a glass of wine and think about that this evening.

And then, maybe I won’t.

* * *

June 11 – Two days out and everyone wanted to come to see me this morning (one reason why today’s entry is posted at the same time as yesterday’s – there has not been a break in the trail of those in and out of the office all morning).

#1 wanted me to approve a robust response to those seeking to sue us for non-payment for the pile of rubbish they delivered to us which did not, could not and never would have worked, so far away was it from the required specification.

Office has staff problems.

Hitchin has customer issues about pricing which seem pretty key to securing work, and I had to overrule our usual price matrix.

The ex-Mrs CEO is banging on about the need for a board meeting, and she is right.

The Chair wanted a progress report on training issues, and I was due to supply it.

And more, and more: not least one major customer who seemed to just want to phone for a chat with me. I struggled at the end of the conversation to think what it could have been about. Oh, I thought, to have such time to waste. So I then struggled to read between the lines and I still got nowhere.
And all this despite the fact that I think I am quite a good delegator.

* * *

June 10 - Two good things came out of the conference.
Rather to my surprise, I was presented with an award on the second day of having won the ‘best presentation’ on day one. All I can say is that the audience were not a very discriminating bunch. They certainly did not give that feedback at the time!

More important, at lunch on the second day I was, I think quite deliberately waylaid by the director of a relatively new and small company. He felt that his products could improve the way we worked.

You only have to watch The Dragon’s Den every now and again to realise that the average entrepreneur’s enthusiasm about what they promote exceeds any potential prospect of it meeting the customer's expectation, but I decided to hear him out. After all, I was there to network.

And candidly, what he had to say did seem interesting. For obvious reasons I have always been a little reticent to explain precisely what products and services my company supplies, and I'm not going to change that now. But his proposal did seem to substantially simplify one significant process upon which we rely.

I am also terribly aware on these occasions that I am an accountant. I think I have a pretty good understanding of what we do, but remain critically aware that there are others who are much better qualified than me on the technical processes that we undertake. So, I assured him that I thought he had correctly and appropriately waylaid me, but I was not the man to convince. However I have already asked East and Newc to see him. My gut reaction is that the payback from these two days out of the office to be very good indeed if he really can supply the improved process that he promises.

In other words, on this occasion getting out of the office was exactly the right thing to do.

I should do it more often.

* * *

June 9 - Well that went all right.

I wasn't that funny.

But I didn't bellow.

I didn't fall over.

I did get the message across.

I got good questions, which I always think is a good sign.

I got bought drinks in the bar afterwards.

That will do.

***

June 8 - Mad panic of a Monday as I am out for the next two days at a conference.

First of all there is the task of fitting in all the things that I will not be able to do whilst away, even if half of them are probably unnecessary, and could be delegated (so yes, I know this is all my own fault).

Second there was the minor issue that I am speaking at this conference, and as is the case with every speaker, everywhere I am sure, I left my preparations to the last minute.

I don't mind speaking to an audience. It is something you get used to when you are a manager. I've had no training at it, it is just something I found I could do.

I don't like microphones though, and there's bound to be one. Long ago I learned to project my voice to reach any reasonable sized audience that I was going to face within the company. Now when I'm faced with a microphone I tend to forget that it will do that job for me and I bellow as a result. Trying to adjust to that always makes me feel nervous. And that both irritates and flusters me, so I get more hung up about these presentations than I should.

And then there's that delicate question of ‘to PowerPoint, or not?’ and if so, whether to simply put up a set of speaker’s notes, or something that illustrates the points I'm hoping to make more tangentially, and so adds to the overall presentation. I always admire those who can do this second option: by and large I have to reluctantly admit that I can't.

So, today involved bashing out a set of notes and subjecting my PA to a trial run – which did of course then require me to cut out half the material.

I think I’m ready for the off, but this sort of thing is something I do because I think I need to, not because I enjoy it.

* * *

June 5 – I promised myself a more cheery day; one where I sought to find the best in people. One where I wanted to stop complaining about those not here and appreciated those who were.

Others chose not to share that spirit of well being. The morning post brought news that we’re being sued for a debt we blatantly do not owe.

One of drivers had an accident. OK, nothing serious, but annoying.

May new sales performance was not good, even in a weak market. Debt ratio is up despite best efforts. And on it went.

In the end I sought to be proactive. I shut the door. I got #1, my PA and Office in. We worked on training ideas for non-frontline staff. They don’t always get the attention they deserve. That’s also reflected in this week’s absenteeism.

Maybe I just needed to work with three immensely well grounded women for a change. Maybe we all wanted to ignore what was happening outside for a while. Whatever it was in 90 minutes we worked through a pile of ideas, agreed plans, allocated responsibilities and went away feeling the better for it.

At least I got something done this week.

* * *

June 4 – Best excuse offered this week for not coming to work? “I needed to vote.”

Sure you did: so do I, but I will manage it before 10 tonight.

This person was told to turn up and has been docked hours from his holiday.

But the fact that the issue has come up again tells me there’s something going on, and there is. It’s that people aren’t busy enough. Stress levels are low. And bunking off seems more attractive because I think people think they can make the time up easily enough.

That may be right. But I’m trying to be generous and keep everyone employed and people are taking the Mick.

It looks like overtime is going to be on its way out in the south too, very soon. Unless, that is, I come up with some better idea. (Like more internal training to take up slack, he writes, off the cuff).

* * *

June 2 – Warm weather has another consequence: we have some absenteeism this week which is above normal rates.

I find this profoundly irritating. I'm asking all managers to pursue explanations more thoroughly than usual, but of course they self certify colds and tummy upsets and (a favourite with one or two here) irritable bowel syndrome (which I presume if not infectious, but spreads none the less) and there's not a lot we can do.

But we remember it when bonuses and promotions come round.

* * *

June 1 - Back to work, and you have to admit, I chose the right weekend for camping if it has to be done.

We chose the wrong bid to submit though. My camping was made easier when it became clear during Thursday that our bid was miles too high for the tender we were working on. We pulled out.

I will be curious to see who gets this. We were working on marginal, not full costs. We are generally considered pretty efficient I think. So whoever gets this is either a miracle worker or desperate for the work, or going bust soon.

I'm not willing to play that game. It's why I hate bidding through out-sourcers. By the time they've taken their margin the service supplier is squeezed into ridiculously low service standards and the ultimate customer gets crap in exchange. I'm always bemused by their inability to see that.

* * *

For previous instalments of the CEO's Diary, see:

May 2009
March / April 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
Movember 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006

 

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Replies (9)

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By User deleted
16th Jun 2009 13:30

Yep, he's a phenomenon
And continuing the online searching, I will save you the trouble of looking up "epiphenomenon": "a secondary phenomenon that is a by-product of another phenomenon".

Truly wondrous - entertaining us as well as expanding our vocabularies (or at least mine anyway).

Thanks (0)
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By jimwatson
16th Jun 2009 09:13

U.T.Cobley
Uncle Tom Cobley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The phrase Uncle Tom Cobley and all is used in British English as a humorous or whimsical way of saying et al., often to express exasperation at the large number of people in a list. The phrase comes from a Devon folk song "Widecombe Fair", collected by Sabine Baring-Gould. Its chorus ends with a long list of people: "For I want for to go to Widecombe Fair, With Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawke, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all." The surname is spelt as "Cobleigh" in some references - or indeed cobbly!

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By Martin Tingle
12th Jun 2009 08:08

Good enough is good enough
One of life's lessons I have now fully adopted, after a struggle, is "good enough is good enough". If you continually struggle for perfection in everything, everything suffers. I think it was the French who coined the proverb "perfection is the enemy of good".
The other classic saying is "better to be imperfectly right than perfectly wrong".
So I agree, do the best you can with the resources, talents and time you have available but don't aim to be perfect in everything.

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By aburt01
10th Jun 2009 14:40

Effective Presentation ...
Yes, you obviously did something right during your presentation.

Perhaps you are in a position where you are received well because of your title. (I.e. CEO of a respected company in a certain line of business)

I was a little taken a-back that you would summarise your overall relief at the outcome of the presentation as "That will do".

Don't settle for second best would be my advice. In anything.
You know deep down it won't "do", but are afraid to fully admit it.

Like you, I don't claim to be expert in this area, an occasional speaker to peer group of professionals, but my limited reading on the subject of effective presentations suggests it has everything to do with excellent preparation.

E.g. the classic example: Using powerpoint, on each page/section of your talk, your audience sees a lemon shown in different ways, may be dissected in differing ways, coloured, topped, hairy? Adds a little humour, brings “theme” to a presentation and creates audience "anticipation" of the next slide.
When professionally done, this will illustrate the points you raise and bring novelty to the talk.

You can raise the bar so easily on your presentations with a little professional touch and fore-thought.

Best wishes.

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
09th Jun 2009 11:45

Break a leg, dahling!
I sympathise with your plight. I, too, have to perform occasionally and have been looking into ways to improve my delivery, which tends towards the Eddie Izzard school of informality.

My research took me off to TrainingZone, where I put together a bunch of tips ranging from obvious to straightforward and downright outlandish. The more useful ones have been compiled into an AccountingWEB article, PowerPoint presentation tips from the experts.

This post may be too late for your conference (I only caught up with your plight on Tuesday morning), but let us know how the talk went. And the next time something like this turns up, you'll be able to experiment a bit more confidently with PowerPoint.

John Stokdyk
Technology editor
AccountingWEB.co.uk

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By masont
05th Jun 2009 12:06

reduce the hours and the pay?
if the issue is related to a reduced level of work, do you think it would be possible to have a temporary reduction in hours (and salary) until work picks up?

1 hour less a day (assuming 40 hours=12.5%) - with a10% pay cut?

difficult with those that are front line and earn overtime - but should you be paying that at the moment?

it may also focus the employees minds on cost savings.

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By AnonymousUser
05th Jun 2009 04:59

Absenteeism
I suspect you have a two-fold problem. It's not just that people have time on their hands. It's also that, with the business standing still, they have lost their sense of forward momentum.

At the start of the economic crisis, fear was a motivator.
Now the economic situation has dragged on longer, people have become used to it and learned to live with it.

Training might help fill time but it won't be the complete answer. I know you intend it to benefit the business by improving skills, etc. But how you and your team communicate it is going to be important. It needs to be seen as building something and serving a bigger purpose; not just as a make-work scheme.

You need a communicated, believed, goal-orientated plan for what you want to achieve. Training should be only one element of this plan.

Perhaps you could link it to other activities which would be seen as building/empowering? How do you get the rank and file involved rather than just being passive recipients? How do you harness the imagination, energy and passion of your people, at all levels? What really bugs people that they would want to change? Or what value would they love to add that they don't yet?

Might it be worth seeing if the chair has any suggestions?

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By User deleted
19th Jun 2009 22:17

How come there are 2 CEO's diaries now?
I am very confused!

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By alistair_king
22nd Jun 2009 10:36

Breaking out
Forgive me, but there are several elements to this post.

You seem to have something of a satisfaction issue. If you are feeling this way, you may not be the only one. Have you asked your management team how they feel?

You don't need to carry the entire burden of finding a new strategic vision. You built a strong team, so why not benefit from their energy and creativity? How about spending a couple of days offsite for a brainstorming session? Since the economy seems to have reached bottom now, maybe this is the right time to start thinking about where are you going on the way up?

Growth is good. But in this case, personal growth. You started as the CFO; became co-leader; became CEO; organized a buy-out; held the business safe during the crash. But, now that the business is in something of a steady state, you seem to be just running tasks. How are you developing at this precise moment? And, how is your team developing? Are you satisfied with their growth? Are they satisfied with their growth? If not, why not? And what are you going to do to develop them further? What happens if you get hit by a bus?

On a related issue... Absenteeism as a symptom of...

What kind of culture do you have in the company? How has it developed since you took over as CEO? How does it foster growth and development in you and the company's employees? Does it link to a vision? Does it deliver that vision? Does the culture create a stong sense of identity that keeps people pulling togther? Does it create opportunities for individual employees to make a difference? How do you want the culture to develop further? What kind of leadership are you giving on this on a day to day basis?

I'd guess from elements of previous posts that you have elements of a service culture. And I know some individuals have some ability to act. . But I'm not sure there is a fully fleshed out plan for how the culture will underpin strategy, performance, and innovation.

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