Constant Vigilance is Key for CEOs

SAN FRANCISCO—In this ever-evolving landscape of tech changes, economic twists and turns, global competition, and overall leadership challenges, CEOs have to stay on top of each business curveball. In the second of a two-part exclusive, Matt Slepin, founder and managing partner of TerraSearch Partners, recently offered insights on how the C-suite should manage its firms from an external perspective.

GlobeSt.com: What changes can CEOs make externally to stay ahead of the game?

Slepin: What marks some of the most interesting and successful founders and CEOs is an off-the-charts application of native curiosity and range. Thinking way outside the box is often how they got there in the first place, and kept the firm from succumbing when others failed. Focus on the company is paramount, but in context. Knowing the competition and the marketplace is a never-ending challenge, and for executives gaining in years, there’s a risk of complacence or being overly reliant on last year’s business plan, or that of the past five to 10 years. Successful leaders are always learning and testing: What do you do better than anyone in your business? About average? Worse? Make the best better and make it your fortress. Improve the average stuff by 10%. Solve the bad stuff. Go for it. Otherwise, you are treading water. What’s new out there and in your immediate field? What needs to be let go? You cannot afford to be caught flat-footed by changes in the economy, technology and the globe. You cannot afford to miss the trends─both in your customer base and your employment base─of the next generation and of globalization of capital, tastes and opportunity.

Lastly, many leaders still wisely ask themselves, it still fun? As a firm, how do we capture or recapture that? Is our management team and every employee engaged and excited? And it applies to the CEO too. Business is a sustaining passion for most executives, but you know there is more in your approach at work and in the balance of your life. What are you giving back? Whom are you mentoring? What are your business and personal passions?

For most firms, it’s a great time in the business cycle. For those in leadership positions, maybe this is the time of your great hurrah. How will you take the opportunity to make a great difference? Is the firm ready for whatever’s next, from executive transitions to outside change? What’s next is what keeps it fun and exciting, for executives and their teams.