My friend Carolynn Duncan of The Hundred Dollar Business fame and Coffee With An Expert recently posted a list of 6 questions that CEOs should ask themselves weekly:
- Is my business model working?
- Are operational processes in place to support current work flow?
- Is existing infrastructure enough to support operations?
- Are my people happy?
- What’s my cash position?
- Am I consistently hitting strategic milestones?
While I think these are critical questions to ask often, I’m not sure all of these are questions the CEO should be asking. I suggest that CEOs focus more on strategy and the “big picture”. CEOs should ask:
- Where is the organization going in the next year? 3 years? 5 years?
- How are the markets that my business are in performing? What are the long term trends?
- What are my strategic milestones? Why are these milestones important?
- How will my business remain stable? grow?
Sure, there are more questions CEOs should consider. Bottom-line: CEOs have to be strategic. They have to provide leadership and direction for their businesses.