he Five Types Of BHAG’s, Hiring A CEO & 10x Is Easier Than 2x
29 October 2023 Newsletter
“Expanding your freedom is the ultimate purpose of the entrepreneurs journey. And there is no end to how much freedom you can have or create.” Dan Sullivan
Hope you’re Thriving!
I’ve enjoyed a week of learning and meetings. I hope yours has been fruitful!
Hiring A CEO
Perhaps it’s the pandemic, perhaps my age or something else, but I’ve noticed recently that more of our clients are hiring CEOs (or COO / General Managers) to run their business. As detailed as my books Onboarded and Onboarded for Managers, Onboarding the role of the CEO requires a little more focus.
According to many estimates, a startling percentage of new CEOs fail within their first 18 months-whether they come from outside or are promoted from within. Sometimes, the new leader makes poor strategic moves, and sometimes, the board makes an imperfect choice, overestimating a candidate’s abilities or hiring someone whose skill set doesn’t fit the context. But when succession fails, the responsibility is almost always shared.
New leaders may need help to read the political situation clearly or achieve the cultural changes their strategic and operational agendas require. Boards and key executives may need to grasp the complex nature of CEO succession or consider the likely political and cultural challenges the new leader will face. It is a longer process of interactions, both formal and informal, planned and impromptu; it should begin when the board’s choice accepts the position and last for months after they arrive.
This week, I came across an article detailing the key considerations when hiring a CEO. While it is from HBR and focused on large enterprises, there are some excellent takeaways for the mid-market.
Read the article here: After the Handshake The Right Way to Bring a New CEO On Board
The Five Types Of BHAG’s
During my learning events this week, we discussed the five types of BHAG, which I thought you’d be interested in.
But first, remember that The Real Value of a BHAG is in the Hedgehog, because a BHAG without the depth of thinking is a garbage goal.
BHAG (pronounced bee-hag) stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goals. The term was first coined in 1994 by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their book “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.” BHAGs are long-term goals that focus the entire organisation for a 10–30-year period.
BHAGs are not 3 or 5 years. Importantly, if your entire career is only 30 or 40 years, it answers the question: do I really want to dedicate a large chunk of my career to this goal?
All Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) have one common feature: they are ambitious, long-term objectives.
BHAGs come in various forms, and we’ll explore five distinct types.
Continue reading this full blog post here.
10x Is Easier Than 2x
This week, I’ve been reading the new book by Ben Hardy and Dan Sullivan called 10X is easier than 2X. It’s a bit more of a self-help book than I’m often comfortable with, but it has some fascinating insights.
Essentially, the concept is that when you’re trying to 2X something, you focus on linear and incremental changes that can be quite difficult. When you focus to 10X something, for example, your revenue, you strip away everything that is not critical to achieve that 10X goal, typically utilising the 80–20 Pareto rule.
I love how it enables people to think bigger, and I do recommend it as a read. However, sometimes the “how” is beyond possible. It’s easy to set a goal to suggest let’s go from 2 million to 20 million in revenue within two years. And utilising the 80–20 rule to focus on only what’s essential will be very useful and a worthy tool. But growth sucks cash, and you must be able to figure out how to execute this 10X goal. Goals are garbage without clarity and confidence on the how.
The point is that 10X might be easier than 2X, but it’s all about the how; it’s all about being clear on your strategy and being clear on execution, and then executing with relentless focus. As I said last week in this newsletter — there is no magic pill. There is no growth hack. There is no substitute for putting in the work.
Dan Sullivan wants you to know that achieving 10X growth is exponentially easier than striving for 2X growth. Most find this idea confusing at first because simply imagining 10X growth causes them to think they need to do 10X more work to achieve it. However, being a 10X entrepreneur is nothing like what most people think.
10X is not the outcome; it’s a counterintuitive process you can apply every time you want exponential growth in your life and business. To make 10X possible, you must focus on expanding what Dan defines as your four most important freedoms — time, money, relationship, and purpose. As your time becomes 10X more valuable, you increasingly multiply the money you earn both in terms of amount and profitable satisfaction.
As money becomes a tool you can increasingly access with greater ease, you will engage with a growing number of other freedom-motivated individuals. As both your professional and personal life fills up with 10X more unique and collaborative relationships, you will realise that your most powerful purposes in all areas become 10X more lasting and positive for everyone involved. You will be impressed by what your life has become and the meaning and impact you’re having.
10X is fundamentally about quality vs quantity, and the quality of your freedoms determines the results you achieve.
Read the book here: 10x Is Easier Than 2x
If you would like to receive our weekly newsletter as an email, simply complete the “subscribe to my newsletter” form at the top of this page.
Keep Thriving!
Brad Giles
Originally published at https://evolutionpartners.com.au on October 29, 2023.
