As a visionary C-Suite leader, you’ve built something significant. Over the years, you and your team have celebrated successes and enjoyed the excitement of consistent winning. Unfortunately, you’ve seen other entrepreneurial executives do the same, only to become distracted by their success, lose their edge and experience dangerous erosion in their momentum.
Maintain your focus and ensure long-term, sustained performance by purposefully playing the long game. Continue to feed your passion, deliver optimal future results, and ensure that you and your team maximize long-term strategic options by focusing on the 10 areas below.
Remember what got you here. Never forget the important things that have represented the foundation of past success. Your personal values and beliefs, visionary thinking, hard work and effective decision making will be just as important to your future as they’ve been in your past.
Monitor the horizon. In a world of rapid change, it’s important that we look forward. Proactively seek to see and understand both opportunities and threats that the future may bring. Avoid the trap of passivity and prepare to meet the moments of tomorrow.
Adapt to new things. Pay close attention to what your next generation of customers, competitors and employees are saying, thinking and doing. Apply new thinking and leverage new skills in leading, strategizing and executing.
Leverage strong advisers. Surround yourself with independent advisers who make you better. Utilize formal professional peer organizations, advisory boards and objective accountability partners to maximize your capacity, capability and creativity. Demand that they challenge you..
Hire complementary executive talent. Seek next-level talent with an eye toward complimenting your skill set and interests. Deepen your team with individuals capable of doing things you cannot or don’t want to do. Ensure business continuity with depth of talent.
Break it and build it. Constantly assess the effectiveness of business models and business practices. Even when areas of the business are performing adequately, execute hypothetical whiteboard exercises in which you break them down just to challenge your thinking in how you might rebuild them if starting over.
Spend time where the money is. Find areas of business potential that excite you and go “all in.” Focus your attention where it matters most and where you will see the greatest reward for the investment of your time. Leverage others for things that matter less.
Practice intellectual stimulation. Stay intellectually sharp. Challenge yourself to grow as a leader and individual. Read, listen, watch and learn. Maintain your edge and make yourself better by focusing on continuous personal improvement.
Maintain your physical health. Take care of your body. You are your team’s franchise player, and you are only good as you are available. Make physical health a priority in your schedule and ensure habits that will allow you to be your best self.
Invest in others. Increase the scalability of your enterprise by developing the capabilities of others. This takes intention, capital and time, yet is a prerequisite to sustained growth with stability.
All entrepreneurs recognize that building a business is not easy. Likewise, maintaining and growing a performing enterprise takes effort, intention, and execution. Create maximum value by purposefully playing the long game to ensure that your business maintains performance momentum. ●
Jerry L. Kelsheimer is President and CEO of MMG Healthcare Solutions/Medic Management Group
