Vision for a new decade

We have all heard the phrase “new year, new you”. Well this year, we’re also embarking on a new decade. There’s no time like the present to level set your business and personal plans. Will the 20s be roaring? Is your vision for your business prepared for the year and the decade ahead? Are you keeping an eye on the inevitable succession issues facing you and your business?

At CEO Nexus we encourage our members to establish an operational framework to better manage growth and value creation in their business. Absent an existing framework, we encourage members to consider the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS) because it has proven successful in helping other members accelerate business growth. One of the key elements of EOS is the Vision / Traction Organizer, or V/TO™, which simplifies the process by which business leaders define and organize their goals.

Marketing Guru Seth Godin encouraged his tribe to have 2020 vision. I couldn’t agree more. If you have not done so already, January 2020 is the perfect time to write down or update goals for the next few years as well as the decade ahead. Real goals with real numbers attached.

Goal setting is more than an exercise to make yourself feel good. Goals are meant to add discipline and milestones to your business so you can drive enterprise value. EOS™ recommends breaking your goals down into a one-year plan, a three-year picture and a 10-year vision.

Don’t stop with just business goals. Write down your personal goals such as where you want to be and what you aspire to accomplish in the coming year. A personal V/TO™ just for you. Meshing your business and personal goals will provide a 360-degree perspective to your life that will help you and your business thrive.

Personal goals and long-term happiness are important components of your business succession plan. Bo Burlingham, former editor of Inc. magazine and author of Small Giants and Finish Big, studied hundreds of growth businesses. He found a surprising number of those business owners, greater than 70 percent, were dissatisfied after selling their business. When studied further, Bo learned a common explanation could be traced to the absence of a specific plan of action for the owner after the sale.

Clearly, succession planning is complex, and timing is critical. In this new decade we should all be more intentional about dedicating a portion of our business planning to gaining a better understanding of “what if and what’s next.” All too often, big picture thinking can become muddled quickly by the tyranny of the urgent. To a person, those CEOs in the CEO Nexus network that have recently sold their business have stated, “If I knew then what I know now, I would have started the succession planning process earlier.” Wise counsel. So simple, yet so very difficult. According to Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

If you are looking for help setting the right course for your vision in the decade ahead, a CEO peer group of similar -sized companies can serve as a trusted sounding board offering the context and connections needed to help you make better decisions, faster. A CEO peer group provides an objective environment and the accountability owners and top company executives need to address issues that, if left unchecked, can stifle growth and undermine long-term goals.

CEO Nexus serves business owners and key executives leading second stage companies. The program offers a confidential, professionally facilitated setting for non-competing businesses to address and resolve a variety of business challenges including strategy, operations, leadership and succession.

To learn more visit CEONexus.com.