5 critical tasks every CEO must prioritise to ensure growth

In this post you will discover the 5 critical tasks every CEO must prioritise to ensure growth. 

The five critical tasks CEOs must prioritise are:

1. Vision
2. Cash
3. Hire the best people
4. Key relationships
5. Learning

We invited Mark Moses to join us as a guest on our Fireside chat where he discussed this topic with us. He is the founding partner of CEO Coaching International and author of the best-selling book, "Make Big Happen." You can watch the clip on Youtube here

 As CEO it's easy to end up in a whirlwind of activity where you wear a lot of hats and take responsibility for many different activities. It is essential to prioritise these 5 critical tasks and take full responsibility for them as the CEO.  

1: VISION

Where are we going? As the CEO you are responsible to identify and clearly communicate the vision of the business. 

2: CASH

If you don't have cash, you can't fuel the business. CEOs need to make sure they are the ultimate responsibility for cash. This means they must:

• Not spend it frivolously
• Use it judiciously to ensure there is a profit on all activities
•  Ensure accounts receivable are collected quick enough so that money does not run out
• To control and manage any money spent in advance on products

Remember that you can ultimately grow your business, but still run out of cash, which means you cant function as a business. So it is up to the CEO to understand and manage the cash cycle.

3: HIRE THE BEST PEOPLE

 This is the most important one. Ensure you have the right people on your team to help you build the business you want. 

If you are uncertain about if you should hire somebody, then you certainly shouldn't. Or, when in doubt, there is no doubt. Equally, the longest time in a leader's life is from the time they loose confidence in somebody to the time they do something about it.

• How do you retain the best people?
  
  People want to work for an organisation where they feel valued and where they are part of a purpose. Create an environment that's inspiring and helps employees achieve their goals. 
  
  
• How do you manage the tension between spending money on top talent and managing cash flow? 
  
  Often CEOs are in a position where they are hardly paying themselves, but now they need to get top talent. Your thinking should change as you ask yourself this question: "If I don't find a way to hire top talent, how do I achieve my goals?'
  
  There are a few practical ways to handle this:
  - Borrow the money
  - Trace long-term incentives for paying less now
  - Align compensation to performance
  
  

4: KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Your responsibility as CEO is to be close to the top 3 or 4 or 5 key relationships. It is important for you to identify who they are. This will depend on your type of business and the industry you are in. 

Is it shareholders, government, key employees, key suppliers?

5: SYSTEM FOR LEARNING 

As CEO it is essential to put in place a system or process to continue learning and to include a budget for this. 

Whether it is to learn by reading, coming to an event, spending time with other entrepreneurs and exchanging ideas with each other, attending industry conferences, getting mentoring and coaching, or what works best for you.