mos-leaders.com

Congratulations! You’ve been hired.  Hopefully, you are ambitious, naive, nervous, and eager to make a name for yourself. Chances are you accepted the offer because the compensation package was adequate to cover your rent. Think about becoming the future CEO. Why not have a dream, have the fire in your belly to be number 1? Presumably, […]

“Watch Out,” are the key words in this heavily time-consuming corporate structure designed by lawyers and SEC officialdom, few of whom have ever run a business. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your directors are your friends. Between being compensated for attending meetings with little to do but read reports that you prepared for them and […]

You’re the CEO of a start-up. You launched your great new revolutionary disruptive idea with friends and family capital. Now you need some sizeable capital to go into production. Understand the following: It is easier to raise larger rather than smaller sums of capital. At $10 million and up there are more players. The amount of […]

The home CEO has its own operating guidelines. Try to learn them. Your showing up late for supper is just another event at the end of a hectic day. Don’t look for sympathy unless you texted, you’d be late. Even then don’t look for it. The home CEO needs to have a reservoir of goodwill available […]

No, not you, the office CEO, the other one, who’s at home equally exhausted. You show up late for dinner because the conference call with your investors in Silicon Valley went longer than scheduled. You may have not remembered that there’s a CEO who runs the castle, the children, the staff, the dog, the equipment and […]

Understand that time is your enemy. You are bleeding cash. Your ideas will deteriorate over time as competitors inevitably crowd in. You have no time to waste. You are not going on vacation…for a while. If your strategy doesn’t gain traction in the first two years which I define as positive cash flow, you will […]

If you have worked at a large corporation for most of your career, and if you decide to be your own boss before you turn 50, go for it. Timing is everything. You might not get another chance. The CEO of a start-up must be confident of the future. Keep this in your mind because it […]

Like it or not, the CEO must be — or become— a good public speaker. Whether at a Rotary lunch, a congressional hearing, a United Way rally or an economics forum, it’s all the same. You’re speaking to people who will judge you and your company on how well you perform. Find a tutor if […]

Everyone on your team, including you will have personal issues from time to time. Some will be minor like a child with chicken pox, some major like a divorce. Grant support what you can without setting a precedent, but always try to be kind. On the other hand, never start something you can’t stop without […]

Never complain to anyone inside or outside the company except your spouse. They won’t care either, but it might make you feel better. Always have a positive attitude even if life looks bleak. Hold your head high, shake hands, look people in the eye, smile, look happy. People follow winners. Act like one, dress like one. […]