There is no magic pill we can be prescribed to make our businesses double overnight. There’s nothing we can be given to instantly have more work life balance. I wish there was! If there were, we would all be sitting on a nice beach sipping a nice drink without worry. Instead, we still need to be concerned with who are our allies and who are the pretenders who are actually our competition.
So… what does it take to be a successful CEO? Research shows it is not as complicated as we may think. The fundamentals of any business – whether medical or retail – are actually very similar. I do know these skills can be learned with some effort, and help you attain your personal and business goals. Successful companies have leaders with 5 common fundamentals that occur during their evolution. I truly mean evolution because it is a process, not something you can buy on QVC!
- The first is passion! This can also be defined as your “why”. I mean what truly drives you and your business. What wakes you up excited to start your day without whining about it? Why did you become a business owner or independent practitioner? Both of these things can easily be lost in the daily grind. If you are not crystal clear on this, your organization and quality of life will suffer.
- The second is sacrifice. There is truth to the statement “you must give something to receive something”. We must sacrifice time, energy, and/or money in order to move to the next level. However, when you perform these sacrifices during your career is crucial! Sacrifices made early on pay greater returns when compounded over time. I would think along the lines of delayed gratification.
- The third characteristic would be failure. No human being gets everything right all the time or on the first shot. Failure is crucial because it teaches us what is working and what is not. Protocols need to be designed, monitored and then tweaked or eliminated. Growth only comes from change. If we are afraid of failing, then our companies will never be able to keep up with what is on the horizon.
- Then fourth would be grit! It only takes a committed work ethic to succeed, but also the ability to bounce back. I believe this is what we are currently lacking in our society. The “everybody gets a trophy” mentality does not teach resilience. We all know this is required in our field and running a business. Every day we are forced to wear many different hats as business owners and independent practitioners.
- Last would be intuition. All great CEO’s talk about the importance of their “gut instinct”. Those with a lesser work ethic call it luck. However, the most successful leaders know your gut instinct is built from experiences, trials, and error, and multiple conversations. Learn to acknowledge it and trust it when push comes to shove.
The most successful CEO’s do not believe in an overnight “get rich” scheme. A rise to the top is about focused effort and coordinated action. I wish I had the Rx pad to write each and everyone a script for the magic pill! But, until I do, keep building your empire one fundamental at a time!
