CAN you CEO?

I picked up a copy of Inc. Magazine while I was waiting to get my hair cut last week, and for the first time, I was glad I had to wait. There was an article that caught my attention as I have been on a mission to become the CEO of my own company someday soon and the title screamed READ ME!!

America’s Most Productive CEOs

Lessons from 16 super-efficient and highly-productive entrepreneurs including Caterina Fake of Hunch.

I thought to myself, what better way to learn how to be a productive CEO than to read this article and see what the biggest names in America are doing; thankfully I was right, but my biggest surprise came in the contrast in leadership styles across the board. One would think that the formula for success is a cookie cutter story…but what I found was 12 different ways to run a company.

Out of the 12, (and I suggest you read them all for yourself) I discovered that I relate more to four of them more than the others.

Caterina Fake – Co-founder of Flikr; What makes me most like Caterina is my severe lack of a solid schedule and my secret hatred of overly regimented schedules. I do fancy myself as more of a free-thinking creative type and being tied to times to get things done hampers that process. I have a to-do list, but not a “when to get things done” list, and I think I like it better that way.

Danny Meyer – Union Hospitality Group; Like Danny, I am a people person. Human interaction is at the core of everything I do. I prefer face to face, but in the digital age, I will accept whatever social networking site you choose to interact with my. I also feel that those you serve appreciate the attention of the person responsible for their experience.

Seth Priebatsch – SCVNGR; Seth makes a perfect point at the end of his section stating that during a start-up, you have to choose between a social life or your business, I found out the hard way the truth in that statement. It is a mistake I cannot afford to repeat.

Scott Lang – Silver Spring Networks; Scott’s concept of “open blocks” of time during his day kind of goes hand in hand with Caterina’s free flow schedule, which makes perfect sense to me. I can’t count how many times in the last few years that my schedule has been booked solid and forced me to miss an opportunity that might have helped me professionally. I like the flexibility of being able to say yes to things that pop up unexpectedly, or on very short notice.

So with all that being said, what is your leadership style? Have you given it much thought? Realize of course that even if you don’t think you are in a leadership position at work or at home, somewhere, someone is following you, or watching you evaluating you for a leadership role. It is best to develop your personal style when you are without the added pressure of actually having to lead people.

Food for thought, but something that I took to heart almost immediately. These successful leaders have helped me to evaluate where I am going with all of this, and how I choose to get there, I hope it will do the same for you.