At the start of the month, I began reading a book I wish I had picked up years ago. “Good To Great” by Jim Collins is one of those books that are a must read by every Entrepreneur. In fact, I will go as far as saying that no matter your career path, Entrepreneur or not, it would benefit you to learn what Jim writes about in Good To Great. For now, I’ll spare you the full details of the book as you can read more about it on the web but today, I’ll write about how “how hiring a CEO and your future spouse are similar.” Please note, this is not something the book writes about but what has transpired in my own mind after finishing this chapter.
After reading the “Level 5 Leadership” chapter, I learned how good companies become great by choosing level 5 managers and CEO’s.
Traits of a Level 5 CEO:
- Personal Humility and professional will.
- They are ambitious for sure, but their ambitions are for the company, not for their own selves.
- They set up their successors for future generations as apposed to their egocentric level 4 leaders who set them up for failure.
- They display compelling modesty, again, as apposed to the egocentric level 4 ones who contributed to the demise or continued mediocrity of the company.
- They resolve to do whatever needed for the good of the company, no matter how big or hard the decisions or challenges may be.
- Because of their sheer modesty, they attribute their success factors to others than themselves. When things go wrong, however, they look in the mirror and blame no one but himself or herself, taking on full responsibility. Meanwhile, lower level CEO’s did just the opposite – they looked in the mirror to take credit for success but out the window to blame for disappointing results.
Now, you may ask, what does this have to do picking your future spouse or partner and why is a business similar to a relationship? Well, there are 100 ways business and relationships share similarities. For starters, Just like there are good and great companies, there are also good and great relationships. Just like the most important factor of a great company is a level 5 CEO, the most important factor of a relationship is by picking the right partner.
The question to ponder is – Do I feel comfortable enough being in a business with this woman or man? One of the fastest way to get to know someone immediately is through a 7-10 day holiday or by being in business together.
Traits of an effective spouse:
- Their character traits
- How honorable they are.
- Their level of integrity.
- Honesty
- Loyalty
- How passionate they are.
- If they are lazy or not.
- If they are goal oriented or not.
- If they are egocentric or not.
- How well they manage finances and what they do with money after it has been earned. Do they spend it all or do they invest most of it and spend what’s left? (In ideal situations)
- They contribute to the relationship with both partners in mind as apposed to being selfish and self centered.
- They have superb communication skills.
- They know how to manage their emotions well, thus having high emotional intelligence.
Now, lets look at this from another perspective – aren’t all of these bullet points if performed really well, are similar to how a high level CEO would operate in a great company? The same is true about the man or woman you let in to your life. If they do not have the foundational skills as I have written above, the probability that the relationship will be mediocre to good are pretty high. Not only that but the chances of survival for the relationship might be short lived.
The deciding factor for me in choosing my future spouse is for the same reason good companies go from being good to great when hiring level 5 CEOs. While most people have OK, mediocre or good relationships, great relationships (that last for decades) are far and in between these days. I personally believe that a successful man has a slim chance of future success with a mediocre woman. I also believe that next to every great man, stands a great woman just like not only does the product have to be great but there has to be a great CEO behind the product being offered.
While most people think of success as how much money they make–to me, success is a combination of great health, relationships, personal finance, career as well as how you position your future outcomes. When a man of this caliber reaches this level of success, picking his future spouse should be his most important deciding factor in life and this is why “how hiring a CEO and your future spouse are similar.”
Please note, I am not suggesting that you must first reach the pinnacle of success in order to pick the best spouse you can attract. Instead, for the sake of comparisons, your future spouse will either support your success or influence you to settle for less in the long run just like a lower level CEO will produce a good (or lesser) company –vs- a level 5 CEO will produce a great company.
I have to admit, writing this blog post was a real challenge. I hope you’ve stayed with me so far and are not completely confused? If you aren’t, please write to me below in the comments section if you agree with my statements or not. I read all comments and respond personally.
