The Adversary

Think about Maverick Minded as my place to share with you, my fellow CEOs, the conversations bouncing around upstairs in my head. In doing so, I hope to reveal the precarious perils of business ownership along with some constructive insights to avoid them.

Right now, I’m mulling over one of the most insidious adversaries every entrepreneur will eventually face, often more than once. Me included. Unfortunately, by the time most CEOs identify this enemy, it is often too late for a watershed moment. Only a Waterloo event awaits.

Who is this nemesis? Why is it so easy for this destructive snake to sneak into and destroy the legacy of great leaders and the stronghold of a successful business?

You may think I’m referring to greed. I’ve worked hard and I want more rewards rather than investing in the future of my business. Arrogance. I’m the reason for our success so I deserve more time off, and I ignore my business. Narcissism. In the end, success is because of me, not my team, so the profits should be about me. Hubris. Now that I’m so successful, I would look like a fool if I asked for advice even though I know I need help. Ennui. I’m no longer passionate about what I do or just too tired to lead anymore so I don’t do anything. Unworthiness. I don’t deserve my success, so I sabotage my success.

These are all very nasty attributes, but they are only by-products of this adversary rather than the adversary itself. The foe I am referring to that compels a CEO to embrace these terrible character flaws: immorality. A CEO can lose virtually everything they hold dear when they abandon their principled values for unprincipled desires.

These are the quiet, seemingly benign excuses used to justify those first side-steps away from our values. They hinder moral clarity thus creating a compromising crack in the armor of our fidelity to our values. They are the justifications that make it easy to imbed that first splinter under the skin of our conscience that will eventually fester as we further betray the values we hold in such high regard.

The erosion process that leads to a CEO’s immoral decision-making is subtle at first. The compromised CEO begins to work far too many hours, eat poorly, drink more and workout less. - Seemingly innocuous habits but they eventually lead to obesity, heart attacks, a lifetime of prescription medications and chronic disease. Why have it all when your health is so marginalized that you can no longer enjoy the legacy you’ve built?

The character-compromised CEO focuses on quick payoff actions rather than long-term, profit generating practices and ends up conducting business with unscrupulous people. What is the point of success if it costs you the respect and support of loyal business allies?

The compromised CEO begins to spend more time networking, entertaining new contacts and exploring new amusements that their hard-earned money can now afford. As a result, they spend less time with God, their family and their spouse which often leads to marriage -compromising relationships. Why have it all if those you love are no longer there to celebrate your good fortune with you?

Character flaws don’t destroy the lives and enterprises of great CEOs. CEOs can do this all on their own. When the CEO diminishes God-based values, compromise slithers in and unacceptable behavior is easily rationalized. Recently, I was reminded of how vital it is to keep my values in the forefront of my life and my business-building endeavors.

I attended an event where I had the pleasure of hearing Jack Canfield speak. A fan and follower, it was a real joy to hear his sage advice again. His speech was inspiring and filled with simple reminders about priorities. He gave us several assignments during his presentation. One, which I immediately put into practice, was to clearly identify (in one sentence) our most important career achievement to be completed within one year of the same day. In the process of executing my Jack Canfield task, I wanted to install an action plan to achieve my one-year business goal in a way that reflected my values.

If our values define how we achieve our goals, why are they so often an after-thought? I decided to write my values above my one-year business goal and recite them at the start of each day after some prayer time with the big guy upstairs. These are the values I want to personally embrace in my conduct and professionally imbue in my company. I believe this is only possible when my leadership is aligned with my values: Fidelity, Liberty, Faith, Authenticity.

God provides CEOs with guard rails – values. Without these guard rails, CEOs (me included) may find it compelling to sacrifice our values while pursuing our dreams. With these guard rails, I am confident that any CEO (me included) may achieve their goals but do so with honor, peace of mind and their family and health intact.

Questions:

What are your values? Are they clearly defined?

Do you need to evaluate the values you hold in such high esteem to ensure they provide the guard rails needed to lead with integrity?

What do you do to ensure your actions and achievements reflect these values?

Have you witnessed what happens when your values and actions are not aligned?