Category Archives: CEO advisory services

02/10/23

Finishing School

I once was asked to provide a reference on someone I knew and said it was my considered view, “He escaped charm school a semester early.”

The recipient of that bit of obscurity laughed and nodded his head knowingly. It was an effective communication.

He passed on the man and a couple of years later told me the guy had turned out to be a disaster, but somebody else’s disaster.

That comment makes me think about another kind of school — Finishing School.

I have some equally pithy and direct advice.

The Finish Line is Within Sight | College Admission at Loyola

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01/13/20

Listening Until The . . . . . End

I was with a pal of mine named Charlie — no, his name is not really Charlie — and I received a call from a former CEO coaching client who is a big deal these days. BIG DEAL.

I say to Charlie, “Let me talk to this guy.” We’re sitting under a grape arbor at a restaurant drinking expensive latte that Charlie insisted on rather than good, old fashioned black coffee. Charlie has forgotten more about the CEO business than I will ever know and I was at it for 33+ years.

I start listening to the guy, the CEO — giving off the vibe of his hair on fire. Burning hair has a distinctive odor you can smell if you have 5G cell service.

“Take your time and tell me exactly what the problem is,” says I. I listen for a long time with a few “got it” type comments thrown in.

When the CEO finishes, I ask, “What else?” He remembers a few other things.

During this convo, I have whipped out my notebook and pen and taken some notes. I am sipping on my latte under the grape arbor — a pergola. The sun is on my face, a slight breeze is cooling me, I am alive and well in Austin By God Texas. Life is good. My CEO, a former client, has called me with a problem and I think I can help him. Is this a great country or what?

“What else?” I ask. He adds one last thing.

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10/27/19

Experience v Logic — Who Wins?

I have a former client — full disclosure he is one of two clients I have ever fired. I fired him because he was not diligent in keeping our appointments.

He paid well. He was always apologetic. He always had an excuse. He was and is a very good CEO, the kind you enjoy working with because he does the work and he was a nice person. Hard worker.

A couple of years later, he wrote me a lovely letter apologizing for his behavior that I promised him I would burn.

Recently, he calls me and asks, “Can you give me some help? I’m trying to hire a CEO coach.”

I look at the phone, stifle a laugh, and say, “Absolutely.”

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10/16/18

The Employment Agreement

Big Red Car here on another rainy ATX day. Whoever has been praying for rain, enough.

So, I get several emails from lazy folks who say, “Ahh, Big Red Car, yesterday you talked about Voting Trusts and referred to Employment Agreements. Can you give me some info on Employment Agreements?”

They didn’t bother to use the search function or they would have found it on the website. Over on the right side is the SEARCH function. If you had used it, you would have found a lot of information.

Also, if you had looked at the “Series by Subject” tab at the top, you would have found the whole list.

Not to fret, your Big Red Car organizes the info for you yet again.

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10/3/18

CEO Shoptalk

So, your Big Red Car gets a whiny email from a friend who says, “You should put all the CEO Shoptalk blog posts in one place.”

Guy is the laziest son-of-a-bitch on the planet who apparently can’t use the SEARCH function on the right column of this blog, but I like him so I do it.

Here it is – CEO Shoptalk.

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08/2/17

Flying Solo — For CEOs Only, CEO Shoptalk

Flying solo, Big Red Car? Where did that come from?

Big Red Car here on a cool and gray ATX day. Only getting to 88F today, downright cool. Hot tub tonight for the BRC? Hell, yes!

OK, so there are a number of analogies between flying airplanes and startups — takeoff, reaching cruise, landing. Startup, scale, exit?

One of the most apt analogies is the idea of FLYING SOLO.

Me, the Big Red Car, and the Bonanza with the cross country tip tanks hanging talking aviation v startup mojo. Yeah, I’m looking pretty damn RED.

In life, one doesn’t receive power, one TAKES power. Think about that for a second. Flying solo is about taking power.

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04/12/16

Changing CEOs — What Is The Process?

Big Red Car here in the ATX waiting on another dawn and another great day cause this is Austin by God Texas. On Earth as it is in Texas!

So, today, we chat about the orderly change of command when you get a new CEO. This is really targeted on current CEOs and to be new CEOs.

Nobody ever talks about how CEOs hand companies over to new CEOs because it is often accomplished at the end of a plank when a CEO is unceremoniously deleted — no, I meant “fired” or “terminated” or sent to “pursue other interests.” No, I meant fired. Sorry.

It happens.

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