CEO & Personal Board of Directors

In this post I interviewed Anthony Gruppo, CEO of Marsh and McLennan NE.

Are You a CEO?

Everyone is a CEO. I don't think about it in terms of just business. I think about it in terms of life. You can coach yourself, and others, to be entrepreneurial, if you're thinking and acting like an owner of your position within a company.

How do you walk through life? Are you like a CEO of a major company, the person everyone looks to for support and guidance, full of confidence and positive energy? Or are you moping around your office with a dark cloud over your head because someone cut you off on your way into the office this morning? Do your problems and negative emotions radiate from you? Or do you inspire confidence in others because you know you’ve got this thing called life by reins and are in control?

Imagine Being a CEO

I'd like you to envision yourself in the future, you are the CEO of a major company. Thing is, everyone has problems, everyone struggles, and everyone needs help, even the CEOs of major companies.

Where do CEOs of major companies go when they're struggling with confidence, issues, and questions? They certainly can't call the chairman of the board and say, “I just don't know what I'm doing right now. I'm having a confidence crack.” That's not the best career move. It’s not a good idea for them to walk amongst their colleagues with their head down, shoulders drooped and announce to everyone in the building, “I'm having a confidence crack. I don't know what to do today.”

CEOs are supposed handle everything that is thrown at them with confidence and professionalism. However, CEOs, and entrepreneurs, need their own Personal Board of Directors to help them make decisions and remain confident in their plans of action.

How to form a Personal Board of Directors

Imagine you are the CEO and have total ownership of your company. Who would you recruit to discuss your life and your business plan? Well, you might recruit family members to be your support people and the managers inside the company.

But be careful.

Don't surround yourself with people who are too emotionally invested in the outcome. It's going to be very hard for them to take themselves out of the agenda to look at the pure risk-reward for a successful outcome.

You don't want to surround yourself with a bunch of ‘YES’ people who will only tell you what you want to hear, are poor listeners, and are not successful themselves. You don’t want to surround yourself with people too invested in your success that their fears of your failure will hold you back.

Think about how many times in your life you've surrounded yourself with the wrong people, the ‘YES’ men, the nay-sayers, the worry warts, the selfish, the unsuccessful. You’ve talked to them over and over again, and suddenly, Tao happens, negative thinking starts to occur, you doubt yourself even more because these people are not positive when you need them to be. It’s not their fault, because you chose to listen to them. Everyone is limited by their fears, belief systems, and outlook. Whom you choose to sit on your personal board of directors is vital to your success.

The great problem solvers are able to listen, think about the solutions, facilitate the discussion because it isn’t about them, it’s about you and they are only there to help you. You need to choose people whom you trust because you need to share your life and business plan with these individuals without worrying that they will do something to harm you. They must also trust your abilities to run the company and believe that you are capable of success. If they don’t believe in you, their ability to help you will be limited by their own false assumptions. They must be willing to listen to you, ask questions, and provide feedback that will help you make better decisions.

Click to listen to Anthony Gruppo's full podcast

Review of Anthony Gruppo's Book Six Degrees of Impact

Anthony is currently the CEO of the Marsh and McLennan Agency Northeast. Anthony is the

author of six books, journals, a blog and is a sought after speaker. In his numerous published

creations, he focuses on personal and organizational development. Anthony developed an

effective proprietary strategic model “Six Degrees of Impact” which he presents to

international corporations. His model successfully helps colleagues and companies achieve

and surpass their goals. As the creator and host of his podcast, The Roots of Leadership,

Anthony provides a unique platform for his listeners to learn from his and other leaders

innovations and motivations. Nationally, Anthony has successfully turned around

underperforming operating companies into high achieving award winning enterprises.

Anthony‘s mission is to help others weld their passion to their potential to increase their

performance.