3 Key Questions for CEO’s – Greatness Starts with Fundamentals

A CEO can answer 3 Key Questions to give the business clear direction and keep the team on track. This article will show you a simple process to get these answers without getting stuck debating terminology.

The terminology used to the describe the destination for a business (Vision, Mission, Purpose, etc.) are often caught up in debates about how to phrase statements. I can recall numerous debates in my career about the difference between Vision & Mission, or Goals & Objectives. You can read lots of books on it, and focus on the subtleties of the terms, or you can get down to running a business.

Your immediate objective is to give direction to the leadership team; let’s call this direction the “Big Picture”. You can get started by asking yourself 3 key questions.

Big Picture

When I am using the term Big Picture, I am tossing several key concepts into one bucket. These are the terms that describe direction and boundaries. The Big Picture is not about how we are going to do it (the strategies and tactics), it is about where we are going (and not going). The Big Picture bucket includes:

The Vision
The Mission
Goals
Objectives
Purpose or The Why?
Core Values
Guiding Principles

Tossing them together allows us to ignore the terminology and focus on painting a clear picture of the path forward. The specific terms really don’t matter if you are headed in the right direction. Answering these 3 questions will get you quickly started:

Where are we headed? (Vision, Mission, Goals & Objectives)
Why are we going there? (Purpose & Why?)
(Core Values & Guiding Principles)

Focusing on these questions will get you much further than trying to come up with the perfect “Mission” or “Purpose” statement. Don’t get me wrong, you should aspire to a more formal statements, but doing so takes a lot of time and often requires the talent of great marketing people to make them resonate.

Answering the 3 questions gives you a starting point to aim your team in the right direction and will get them inspired to go there. It is just a beginning; think of it as a future masterpiece that is just a rough sketch for now.

Where are we headed?

We talk in words, but we think in pictures. Helping your team visualize where they are headed will go a long way in helping them translate the path to the destination in daily actions. Think of your job as a navigator, you aren’t just telling them the finish line, you are describing the path along the way. I like to describe a lot of detail at the start of the journey (the next quarter, the next year) and be more generalized further down the path. However, make sure you don’t solely focus on the near term. Describing 3, 5, and even 10 years out, will go a long way towards shaping the team’s view of the future.

These “pictures” will be made up predominantly in numbers (sales $’s, units, etc.) but this information can be presented visually. Including concepts like the growth and evolution of the organization, new business capabilities, new facilities, new marketing methods, new employee benefits, new incentives, and anything else that will change the experience for the employees will go a long way to shape the picture. The more detail that you can give to your team will help them start to translate these goals into actionable plans. Remember, don’t worry about framing your Mission or Vision statements at this point; your thinking will evolve in time and will lead to a much better answers in the future. Also, the picture that you have created will go a lot further than any words in steering your team in the right direction.

Why are we going there?

Having a picture of the intended destination, the team needs to have an idea of “why” you need to get there. The “why?” for a business is one of the most fundamental ideas that separates average companies from great ones. There are several great books written on this subject; I will discuss this idea in more detail in future articles. Discovering a compelling “why?” for your business will be a game-changer if you get it right. However, don’t expect to get this perfect on your first try. You should expect the process of discovering the why, or if you prefer “purpose”, to be an evolutionary one. However, don’t be afraid to take the first step. Simply answer the question “Why are we going there?” and look to refine your thinking with input from your team.

What are the rules-of-engagement and boundaries?

Every business needs rules-of-engagement and boundaries. Giving your teammates, and the whole organization, some basic rules that will guide them when they are making routine decisions every day will go a long way in keeping your business on track. Answering the question leads to framing the culture, a huge topic on its own right, but starting simple will help you get going. You can refine and add as you move forward. These rules-of-engagement will lead to a set of core values and guiding principles for the business, but for now helping everyone understand what they are expected to do, and not do, will go a long way.

Examples

Where are we headed? – Giving the team details about what the business looks like in 1, 3, 5, and 10-years will help paint the picture even if it is a rough guess at the start. For example, a business that is expected to grow 15% – 25% per year for a decade looks quite different than one that is 0%-5%. Is the organization going to focused on supporting growth (R&D, Sales, Marketing, new facilities, etc.) or reducing costs (consolidation, supply chain, facility closures)? Even if you don’t have a specific plan on how to get to your 10-year objective, talking about what it looks like will get the team to think about how to make it happen.
Why are we going there? People gravitate to lofty Mission and Purpose statements with the idea that they will make everyone feel good and inspired. On the surface they do, but a more effective, and honest, description for your team is to talk about the benefits of arriving at the destination. Too often, this discussion is avoided because the honest discussion can sound self-serving. The honest discussion sounds like this: “When we reach our objectives, goals, etc. this will….
- Provide opportunities to increase pay and bonuses to everyone,
- Allow us to increase spending on employee benefits,
- Provide expanded career opportunities for employees,
- Give us money to increase spending on training and education,
- Make everyone’s jobs more secure
- Allow us to spend more time and money on charitable activities,
- Allow us to spend more on developing innovative products that improve our customers lives,
- Give us the resources to provide more support and service to customers,
- You notice how these explanations are not lofty “We will save the children of the world…” statements; instead, they are honest and realistic terms that teammates can understand. These details may seem silly to you, but openly talking about them with your team will ultimately make your future Vision, Mission and Purpose statements much more tangible.
Rules-of-engagement and boundaries – You would be hard-pressed to develop a set of guidelines for your team that is as effective as the Gold Standards of Ritz-Carlton. The power in the simplicity of these standards has led them to be a world leader in service.

Summary

Every CEO needs to be able to answer 3 key questions: (1) Where are we headed? (2) Why are we going there? (3) What are the rules-of-engagement and boundaries? The answers to these questions will paint the Big Picture for the business and provide your team with the direction they need to move together in the right direction.

Refining these answers into clear statements for: The Vision, The Mission, Goals, Objectives, Purpose, Core Values and Guiding Principles will happen in time and be much more effective with your team already onboard.

What other simple questions can a CEO ask to be more effective?