"The one thing I’ve noticed is that the best CEO’s—the one’s whose companies make money year after year—are like the best teacher you ever had. They are able to take the complexity and mystery out of business by focusing on the core fundamentals."
- What the CEO Wants You to Know, page 12
"Think like a street vendor"- What the CEO Wants You to Know, page 29
Ram Charan preaches simplicity hard and heavy throughout the book and constantly challenges us to think about business like a street vendor. So often we as business professionals get so bogged down in our formal educations, the size of our companies, and the challenges which face with our customers, that it’s easy to understand how the majority of people don’t fundamentally understand how their business operates. In order to change that we need to focus on understanding the five essential elements of business which are: Cash, Margin, Velocity, Growth and Customers.
As Charan writes: “Everything about a business emanates from this nucleus.” Here is what we’re talking about when mentioning these five terms:
Think like a street vendor! If you can examine your business and how it operates in these five basic areas, “you are on your way to thinking and acting like a true businessperson and a successful CEO”.
"Every company faces challenges. Begin by making sure you understand the ones your company faces."- What the CEO Wants You to Know, page 131
Most would agree that leaders must have strong business acumen to lead and to grow their businesses, especially at the top. We also know that becoming a senior leader with that level of capability and experience doesn’t happened overnight, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start today.
Charan challenges the reader to linking your own priorities and job function to the bigger organizational picture. By doing so, “Your perspective will expand beyond your functional or departmental view to a total business view.” As your perspective changes and grows, your thinking will grow and you’ll be able to take the lead in your team in relating business decisions to the universal laws of business. To start, try to find out the answer to the following questions:
As you take a step back and a more clear overall sense of your business ask yourself: What questions do I have as a result of this information? Are there any answers that are unclear to me? If so, ask a colleague, boss or organizational leader. This is another step in building your business acumen and positioning yourself for a future leadership position.
"Running a one-person business may seem simple, but it requires many decisions."- What the CEO Wants You to Know, page 26
There is a lot we can learn by viewing our business like a street vendor. Being a street vendor requires one to know every aspect of the business: product, sales, customers, competitors, profit margin, return on assets, inventory velocity, etc.
In most large businesses today, we are slotted into specific roles and job functions which limit our broad view of how our organization holistically operates. While it might not be our job yet to have to know all of that, being able to understand these building blocks of business will help to position the trajectory of our careers.
“Step back and get a total picture of the business. As you cut through the complexity, you will get a clear fix on what is happening in the real world.”
Ram Charan is a highly sought after business advisor and speaker famous among senior executives for his uncanny ability to solve their toughest business problems. For more than thirty-five years, Dr. Charan has worked behind the scenes with top executives at some of the world’s most successful companies, including GE, Verizon, Novartis, Dupont, Thomson Corporation, Honeywell, KLM, Bank of America, and MeadWestvaco. He has shared his insights with many others through teaching and writing.
