During last week’s CEO Mastermind, someone remarked how brave one participant became when making fundamental decisions about their way forward. The answer to that was thought-provoking…

I was forced into it. I wonder if that’s called bravery when the universe forces you into it. But what I felt up until that point in time was cowardice. The avoidance of problems. The avoidance of discussions.
I know that’s what cowardice feels like now, but at the time, it felt like cohesion or harmony or trying to keep the status quo. Whatever other excuse my brain came up with.

Such a common challenge. And often, we don’t realize the problem until it’s too far, making the measures to take (layoffs, reorgs,  kill products, and what have you) even more painful.

So the critical question is, how do you avoid it altogether? 

Here are three pointers that I see B2B SaaS CEOs in my network leverage to their advantage:

• Track and challenge lagging indicators with passion: Why are sales cycles too slow? Why aren’t you winning 8 out of 10? Why is word of mouth not strong enough? Why is R&D spending more time on fixing gaps than creating peaks?
• Become brutally focused. Often you have a foundational segmentation challenge – and the negative effects of that nest themselves across your entire organization
• Find your cohort of peers – people who can remove your blind spots, who don’t have your emotional connection with the problem, and who will tell you what you need to hear (not what you want to hear)

Layoffs, reorganizations, runway stress…. and what have you often can be avoided if we take a step back and look at our business through the eyes of an investor, customer, or peer.

What if we’d showcase more bravery and stop hiding behind the easy options?

Wouldn’t this be a win-win for everyone?

Question for you to reflect upon

What problems and discussions are you avoiding that are holding your business back from becoming remarkable?

 

Be Remarkable

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