5 things EVERY CEO must do.

Most businesses focus on growth and expansion at the start of every New Year. May believe they can achieve the growth they seek by trying out new sales techniques or introducing new products/services. Now while those are definitely part of what’s needed to grow and expand it’s not the key to true growth and expansion.

5 things EVERY CEO must do to grow and expand their business.

We aren’t gonna tell you 2022 is gonna be your year. On the other hand, we WILL tell you what you must do as the CEO to grow and expand your business. And these aren’t things you just do today, these are things you’ve got to keep doing from now until FOREVER. 

1. Write the vision and make it plain

The CEO’s vision is the guiding light for your company, and it’s your job as the CEO to take this big picture and make it a reality. Your vision frames the destination and defines how you’ll get there. If your vision was to build your dream house, then you can’t just dream of a completed home you have to see each individual step of building that dream house. It’s the same thing with your business, to clarify what your amazingly successful business will look and feel like, write that thang down and map out those blueprints.

CEO Shit Moment: Lissen we know you’ve been daydreaming about this highly successful business for a while, so it’s only right that you finally pull out some pen and paper and draw that thing out. You need the blueprint!

2. Create a delegation plan for the vision to be executed

It doesn’t matter how big or small you want to scale your business, the most important thing is that you can’t do it alone. Name one successful person that doesn’t have a team, we’ll wait… Create a delegation plan to divide up how exactly the house is being built and the contractors.

CEO Shit Moment: We know your whispering right now but I can’t afford a team, so we gonna keep it real with you. Include the cost of a team in your prices NOW and just ’cause you don’t have one today don’t mean you shouldn’t plan for one tomorrow.

3. Shift as needed to manifest the vision

Before you can take on the world as thee CEO, it’s time to switch up your mindset. This journey is going to go up and down, it’s going to veer left and right and you’ve got to be ready to shift as needed. Focus less on the journey and more on the destination- your manifested vision.

1. Create short and long term goals

It is impossible to achieve linear growth without creating those short and long-term goals. Now as the corporate world does suck and that’s while we’re all here, one thing they did get right was the usage of SMART benchmarks. SMART is short for; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound objective goals.

CEO Shit Moment: Writing down your goals, and tracking, and witnessing those accomplishments play into bringing the vision into existence. Not only does it provide transparency so that everyone knows where they are headed, but it also reinforces inspiration because you can always look back and see the growth

2. Map your organization structure

The companies you’ve always looked up to and idolized, heck even your job had an organizational map because it has to be clear who goes where and what exactly their job is. Your business is no different than there’s so create your organization structure and map out all the future employees you will have and what position they will play in your widely successful company. 

CEO Shit Moment: “Got to have a plan for every day, else what? You fail to plan, you plan to fail. That’s right. And we’re not failing” – Will Smith as Richard Williams

Keep a Growth Mindset

Whether you are a small local business or a big playmaker, continuous growth is another key ingredient in the recipe for success. Since you’ve made it this far we hope you’re ready for the long road ahead cause a CEO is also a forever student.

Here at Thumbprint, we have consulted plenty of our fellow up-and-coming Black businesses and we always stress the importance of developing a growth mindset. If you not growing and glowing then what is the point? A growth mindset drives us to try more, learn more, and too not be afraid of falling, cause we all trip up sometimes. Having this growth mindset will help you believe that you can do whatever, cause whatever you don’t know you can always learn, and in the digital age, we’re in, acquiring knowledge couldn’t be any easier.

1. Lead by Example

It all starts and ends with you. The speed and efficiency of your business reaching these milestones is your ability to lead and grow your team. There is so much emphasis on being the “alpha” male and/ or female, we cannot STAND it. Leadership is about being an example of excellence- not being the loudest in the room or the one that’s always right. Show your team what Black Excellence looks like, show them how to give great customer service, and show them how to bounce back from a setback.

CEO Shit Moment: We know this is not what you want to hear, but employees are like kids, and just like kids they hear half of what you say but learn everything you do. So be a good parent and show them what needs to be done.

2. Accept Responsibility

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, is what they say, and unfortunately, it’s true. Just as all the wins your business achieves are ultimately yours so are all the missteps and mistakes. The truth is you’re going to make mistakes and so is your team, but it’s up to you to accept responsibility for all of them and adjust accordingly.

CEO Shit Moment: Whether you have to accept that you hired too late or wrong or that you just simply didn’t know what you were doing, accept responsibility quickly so you can make changes quickly.

3. Be Intentional

The quickest way to bridge the gap between where your business stands today and where you want to be is you gotta start acting like you already got it. Now please don’t go to the mall and drop your debit card like it’s a black card, that is NOT what we are saying. What we are saying though is if your dream is to run a multi-million dollar company then you gotta act like you got million dollar assets already. Be intentional in how you move, how you speak, and how you build your business.

CEO Shit Moment: Take responsibility for everything in your business, be very intentional about your actions, and lead by example. Do these things- as a matter of fact BE these things and you can guarantee a progressive experience for your business.

Ask for their input, use their feedback and allow them to work in their genius.

Why is it that so many leaders keep their voices tuned only to their own radio? Why can’t they tune into the wisdom of their team? Think about it…in our personal lives, if we want to understand what’s important to those around us, we ask for advice and give corresponding feedback. However, professionally, sometimes we can create a culture where stubbornness prevails, and seeking out and listening to the wisdom of our people is not an integral part of leadership.

CEOs do wear many hats, however, a great CEO trusts their team and delegates as such. Constantly ask your team for their feedback, perspective, and input because you never know if they have the key to unlocking your next level.

CEO Shit Moment: Always remain teachable even from the people under your leadership. You’d be surprised at how bright people are given that chance, and that micromanaging ish is so last year.

The key to success is starting off on the right foot and you, CEO, are the determining factor in which foot you will start on.

Claiming your blessings by setting your intentions is a proven way to speak your accomplishments into existence. It is not rocket science, however, it does require some hard work and determination. Now that you’ve got the tools, it’s time to get up and go build that mansion! If you want to dive deeper into this topic join our CEO Shit Consultant, Precious S. Brown for CEO Shit Live (click the image below).