CEO #2
70% – Allocated to strategy, acquisitions, and market development.
30% – Dedicated to employee engagement and managing the board of directors.

CEO #3
50% – Development and implementation of strategy.
50% – Dedicated to people/HR/Structure and process.

How are you spending your time as the President and/or CEO? These stats above are very similar to what some of our great leaders are doing at Presidents of Enterprising Organizations.

That Saturday night over 40 PEO Road Warriors including their families and friends enjoyed a pasta dinner, a keg of fantastic Lake of Bay Beer(Thank You Darren), wine, and of course some fine CARBO loading deserts as we watched the beautiful sunset at the Goren’s Cottage on the lake. There was lots of fun, laughter and debate as we motivated each other and prepared for the next day – temperatures were expected to drop to 5 degrees for the start of the race. A few of us more experienced riders had troubles finding the right gear – what were we thinking.

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Our Sunday morning started at 5:30 am – yes for all you engineers and astrophysicists, and we had two of them with us who dared tackle this race, it was pitch black and FREEZING! But once again as the goal driven individuals we believe we are – neither the darkness nor the frigid weather would hold us back. We gathered our gear, checked our tires, overdressed with layers and assembled in the corals with over 1,500 other cyclists. Yes even after that we still all looked great and ready for the start of the race. We had a simple plan of attack -stick together and draft off one another in order to save 30% of energy output. We had Steve and Keith calculating with precision the drafting efficiencies if we did this correctly. We were determined to not just finish but have us finish as a team in the top 5. At 7:00 am the gun went off and the push to get the start line started. I have to admit we didn’t hear the gun…we were almost 500 metres away from the start line in the serious by casual riders coral. It took us over 5 minutes to get to the start line and our strategy of sticking together quickly dissipated as many of us lost each other before we even got to the start line. But all was not lost…the 7:00 am start was also when the sun began to rise in the east and for many of us turned the event into an incredible morning. It was an absolutely incredible sunrise which quickly warmed our hands and bodies as we got going on our 50 mile and/or 100 mile trek. At points we all suffered in pain, but by the time we all finished I can tell you there were only smiles to be seen. Congratulations to all those that participated and thanks for keeping me motivated to train all summer.

If you missed the opportunity this year…consider joining us next year.

It’s a question business leaders often struggle to define: what really is success? The great humanitarian Albert Schweitzer defined it best by saying that success is not “the key to happiness.”

“Happiness is the key to success,” Schweitzer added. “If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

But for business leaders, especially those who seek enhanced mutual growth and success in a safe environment such as PEO, this question takes many different formats. One of the most prominent ones is addressed as follows:

“Am I where I want to be?”

When this is considered, the next question often is: “Am I excited any more? Where’s my passion?”

Sometimes, for those in a peer environment, success is about control—with ambitious people constantly moving up and up from a position with little responsibility to one with more ability to direct others.

Sally Thompson, a PEO member and VP with the engineering firm Halsall Associates Ltd., says that in the first part of a career, even future leaders must spend time “obtaining other people’s approval.”

“Your success is based on carrying out those tasks successfully, according to someone else’s guidelines,” Thompson said. “Sometimes they have ill defined boundaries but they still have to be completed in a way that the senior person sees as successful.”

Changed mid-life picture…character building

Thompson added that this picture changes in mid-life, with enhanced responsibility and with what some might describe as success. “A lack of clarity develops as you move forward in your career. All of a sudden there is no one to turn to for confirmation that you’ve done a good job.”

Success is really about “character building,” Thompson told me. “First you build your reputation, then your character. After that, success is about how you relate to people with that character.”

For Steve Ewing, VP, tgo consulting, the peer environment process produced remarkable changes in his outlook. “I used to have a one- to six-month view of life and now it’s more strategic, with a two- to 10-year focus.”

Now I am more productive

“I was a workaholic, with no time to myself. Now I am more productive, with much more balance. I’m able to participate in things. I invest in myself weekly, monthly, yearly. I coach my sons’ hockey. That’s what I call success.”

“PEO is a proven model and it made me realize how to help our best people—and myself –reach our potential.  I used to be the busiest man on earth. Others didn’t have the same anxiety and stress. I didn’t know any better. But now in a long-term planning environment, I have realized my potential.”

As we often say in our peer groups, it is lonely at the top. PEO (as it did with Sally and Steve) provides objective peers — someone in your corner — providing an unbiased push in the right direction.

From my interactions within PEO groups, Steve and Sally’s comments are a microcosm of the protracted struggle to enhance and sustain professional success. It’s also a moving target, a changed concept. What once was clear—title, position, compensation—no longer defines individuality—it’s individuality that defines success and not vice versa. When you are giving accolades instead of getting them, finding your footing is much more difficult. No matter how sure-footed you may be, you still need a guide and the best one available is right here in Toronto and it’s called PEO.

With the Beatles Rock Band video game firmly ensconced in the world’s living rooms, their CDs remastered and plans for John Lennon’s 70^th birthday celebration growing worldwide, John, Paul, George and Ringo are more prominent and successful than ever.

An important reason the Beatles were so adored and attracted worldwide attention long after breaking up is that they represent four distinct human archetypes that have significant relevance to work teams. They can provide practical insight into leading organizations.

The Beatles HR Test

If you ask employees who their favorite Beatle is, they will almost respond with a psychologically revealing answer. Here is what those answers reveal.

The John Lennon Manager

Men will almost universally pick John as their favourite Beatle; he is the alpha male and group founder. But the difficult part to figure out is whether the response is trustworthy or not. It’s very projective. A man who picks John may in fact be the organization’s troublemaker. He wants management to see him as John but maybe he isn’t. It’s up to the insightful manager to figure out whether all the Lennon-like bravado is for real or for show.

Every company needs a “Paul”

Women overwhelmingly select Paul as their favourite. Identifying with Paul is a good sign. Paul made people happy with tuneful melodies. You want that in an organization. Someone who will work hard and think of the customer—they like love songs. That’s what organizations are about anyway—getting things done, hopefully strategically, but at least on time and on budget.

The wild cards—George and Ringo.

Those who identify with George and Ringo are vital parts of an organization’s success. In the back behind the drum kit Ringo the timekeeper tosses off a forgettable song or two, but holds the organization together. Isn’t that what is absolutely necessary in the accounting department or in administrative functions? Your timekeeper/administrator need to be reminded that without them, there would be no organization.

Understanding George’s style

Both men and women pick the quiet and unappreciated George as a favourite for similar reasons. Somewhere in your organization, there is a George (and not the one in Seinfeld) seething away. He feels ignored and belittled. It’s up to the insightful leader to cultivate these personalities. They might come with difficulties—as George was also mystical—but they can also be devastatingly influential, even though they are introspective and the CEO might wonder why you are wasting time on the person who never speaks up.

Top management doesn’t get John and Paul

There are those who management knows but don’t get—John—and those management gets but might not be comfortable with—Paul.  Yet they are the top talents. Management may ignore George and sometimes Ringo, but they do so at their own peril. The point is to put all four together in a team that works.

Even great talent needs managers

Each of these archetypes described portrayed team members with abundant talent—they might have become stars on their own. But they languished in Hamburg and Liverpool until encountering managers who understood how to direct them. In your organization, figure out who John and Paul are as they are the clear leaders and find the Georges and the Ringos (and learn how to deal with them). Then reshuffle the deck. Profits to follow.