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Advice from top Executives, Presidents, and CEOs

We won’t all be Steve Jobs, but many of us will be the top executives in our respective cities. I recently met with seven of the top Executives, Presidents and CEOs in Madison, Wisconsin. Here are their keys to business and leadership success—

Share your success. It is incumbent on the person being promoted, according to Mark Meloy, President and CEO of First Business Bank, to pull others along with them. Make sure that as you become more successful, your leaders feel that their careers are moving forward as well.

Network to problem-solve. Finding groups that help you problem-solve will save many a headache, according to Brett Armstrong, CFO of the IT company Trident Contact Management. Like if you’re being audited, the group will have your back. But choose your involvement wisely, Armstrong advocates, since you only have a certain amount of time and need to spend it wisely. If you’re only half-involved then that is how people will know you.

Balance… well, it’ll all even out in the end. First, you have to decide if you want a job or a career, according to Mark Meloy. If it’s a career you decide upon, make sure you’re engaging in a two-way street. Work and life won’t always balance out that day, week, or month, but equilibrium will be found. Eventually. Meloy walks the talk at First Business Bank. When his employees go on vacation, they are not allowed access to email and have only limited access to voicemail. The company gives vacation, he says, for a reason.

A vision can’t just be a pie in the sky. A vision must be a concrete vision, according to Donna Sollenberger, President and CEO of UW Hospital and Clinics. To create the right vision, you must find the right direction for your organization to take. To do this, look at the industry trends and listen to your market. Then build a case, a good solid argument, and back it up with data to demonstrate where you need to go.

Entrepreneurs – socialites, control-freaks, risk-takers, and self-promoters. So says Curt Brink, a successful real estate developer. You must not only deal with a wide range of people in entrepreneurship, he argues, but you must also follow through on getting things done. Don’t be afraid to try something new, because once you’ve done it, you then understand how to do it better. A successful entrepreneur likes being in control, but can delegate fully. If you don’t, no one will grow. By the way, Brink was unconsciously promoting his current and past projects the entire time he was talking. That’s called passion. Get some.

Do a lot, and make sure everyone knows. Don’t let anyone pigeon hole your talents, says Annette Knapstein, Vice President of Office Administration at American Family Insurance. Stretch yourself, develop new talents and volunteer for different committees. And then, make sure everyone knows it. If they don’t know, it doesn’t exist.

Leadership is lonely sometimes. A good leader and manager makes effective decisions and communicates clearly, while putting the right people in the right spots. Not always easy, according to Gary Wolter, President and CEO of MGE. To illustrate his point, Wolter told a story about a receptionist he saw year after year. Each morning, the receptionist would say, “Hello, Gary.” Yet, when Wolter was promoted to CEO, the next morning was different. “Hello, Mr. Wolter,” the receptionist said. Leadership fundamentally changes relationships and people expect different things of you. People who were your peers, you now supervise, and while you can still be friendly, you can’t talk about the boss anymore because you are the boss. The support group that you had developed, who had remained loyal to you, and helped you along your journey has changed. Be prepared.

Throw an open door party daily. Reaching out to younger people for fresh air is essential, according to Richard Lynch, President of J.H. Findorff & Son, who had a great sense of the upcoming workforce. He recognizes that young workers are entrepreneurial, and need a flexible and honest environment to work in. He has an open door policy for this purpose and subsequently attracts the brightest young workers.

Speaking of honesty… Surround yourself with people who will tell you that you’re an idiot, says Gary Wolter. Look both inside your organization, and outside, for individuals you can bounce ideas off of, and who can communicate with you effectively and honestly.

Follow the Leader.

By Rebecca Healy

My goal is to help you find meaningful work, enjoy the heck out of it, and earn more money.

16 replies on “Advice from top Executives, Presidents, and CEOs”

Rebecca,

I can tell you put a lot of time, effort, and thought into this post, and it certainly shows. This is a neat read! Thanks and keep up the good work.

My favorite point is regarding honesty. Sometimes I wish I could just get the strait story from people on my ideas and my work. I’m not looking for a compliment, I really want to get your honest opinion!

-Chuck
http://www.ihateyourjob.com

“Speaking of honesty… Surround yourself with people who will tell you that you’re an idiot, says Gary Wolter. Look both inside your organization, and outside, for individuals you can bounce ideas off of, and who can communicate with you effectively and honestly.”

lol Rebecca, honesty for sure
you want people to talk straight.

But those people put others down, call others idiots or trash other peoples ideas (per se), could be contradicting rule One
“Share your success. It is incumbent on the person being promoted, according to Mark Meloy, President and CEO of First Business Bank, to pull others along with them. Make sure that as you become more successful, your leaders feel that their careers are moving forward as well.”

Being a fundraiser, meeting successful & powerful you must have a special quality, to tug at their heart-strings and get them to dip into the corporate purse. Do you sometimes find that there is ‘charity’ fatigue – when you are the nth fundraiser.

I know most rich and powerful who will receive hundreds of begging letters, simply shut off …
they’ve picked a hadful they’ll support in different measures, and the other cases no matter how needy or worthy – well there just ain’t time pr money for all. After all we can only attend so many charity dinners, functions or dooos

@ Chuck: Thank you! I agree that there is not enough honesty. I want to improve my work and be the best. I can only do that when I know what went wrong. I think people often are too wrapped up in niceties. What do you think we can do to fix it? I try to be honest with others in hopes they will do the same for me…

@ Quasar9: I don’t think those two points are contradictory at all. Sure, there are some jerks out there, but in general if you have a deep respect for someone telling them that they are being an idiot is okay. Case in point, one of my friends said to me “That sounds like something a naive 23 year old would say” out at the bar this weekend. I was taken aback, but I knew he wasn’t trying to be malicious and it made me think harder about the point I was trying to make.

As a fundraiser, I have certainly noticed charity fatigue. In most cities, there are the rich and famous that get hit up time after time after time. After time. It’s hard to be original and explain your passion towards the project. The best way to do it, is just like in business, through relationships that potential giver may have in the community.

On that note, I don’t think it’s bad that many potential givers have picked a handful of different charities to support and stick with those. Charity isn’t a free for all. For the same reason that I don’t work in an animal-related field, I probably will never donate anything substantial to an animal-related charity. And I love dogs! The potential givers that have taken the time to decide what they want to support and what they think will make a difference are ahead of the rest of the rich and famous. By doing so, they are more involved and committed to their causes and that’s what every good fundraiser wants- a good relationship with their donors, not just a few bucks here and there. Do you agree or disagree? Be honest ;)

Thanks for this post Rebecca! I really wanted to go to this event but had a friend in from Texas. After reading this I feel like I didn’t miss out!

@ Jessica- thank you! I was surprised you weren’t there, so I’m glad you found value out of the post. It was fabulous to talk one on one with all the execs. They seemed to have a good time too, so win-win!

Hi Rebecca, I do agree (honest)
I love dogs too, but do not give to animal charities.

Mind you that coud be because since I was in my teens, mother has been threatening to give my inheritance away to the “Battersea Dogs Home”
Seems ‘dogs’ are the only ones give her the unconditional love she expects & demands. lol!

Rebecca,

That was very motivating. Definitely got me thinking and inspired to get on the ball this week! Looking forward to reading your column frequently!

Rebecca–this is my first time reading your blog and I must say that the lessons you’ve taken from this event are fantastic. I’ve read a few of your other posts and as a fellow Gen-Y leader, its great to see others who “get it”.

I’m looking forward to your other posts in the near future.

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