This past week I was meeting with my mastermind group, talking strategy and actions to expand and grow our businesses. One of the core themes we were focused on was really understanding our target customer: who is our ideal, and what are we actively doing to attract those types of customers?
Who Is Your Ideal Customer?
I love this question, because I think knowing your ideal customer is fundamental to growing your business. The more you do to understand your ideal target, the more easily you will find opportunities to attract your ideal target customer. It is that simple.
So when it came around to me and it was my turn to share my ideal customer, I did not have to think about it twice. I know who my ideal is, and they are my favorite customers. They are highly successful CEOs driven to take their teams, their businesses, and their industries to the next level.
When I work with this group, this type of client, it does not even feel like work – more like an adventure.
So when my mastermind colleagues asked me to tell them more about my ideal client, how I would describe them, it got me thinking. Who are these CEOs, and what makes them so successful?
Top 5 Traits of Today’s MOST Successful CEOs
Confidently Humble
These are strong leaders, who have confidence and a solid belief in themselves and their ideas. Yet, even with all that confidence, these are leaders who are humble, meaning they want to learn from others, get their input, try their ideas, and are so focused on success that they are more than willing to accept an idea from anyone and from anywhere.
People Obsessed
Today’s most successful CEOs know that their success lies in their ability to attract, retain, and develop people. So today’s most successful CEOs do not delegate human resources. They see this position as their number one job. They take ownership and accountability for culture, engagement, succession planning, and the role of caring and listening to their people.
Lack of Focus
Well not entirely! The most successful CEOs today are always looking for the next opportunity. They put smart, talented leaders in place to grow the everyday business, and they put their time and attention on what’s next. They lack the focus on just one thing, and instead focus on finding new ideas and new opportunities. The goal is to push the company and the team forward, and ensure the continued success of the company.
Desire To Transform
Today’s most successful CEOs are not only interested in the growth of their companies, but they literally want to transform their industry. They are not looking to beat out the competition. No, their vision is so much bigger, so much greater. What they want is to be the ones setting the direction for their industry.
Obstacle Adverse
This is my favorite characteristic of today’s most successful CEOs. I find that the most successful CEOs that I work with are obstacle adverse. They see an obstacle and instead of signaling challenge, they signal opportunity. They are not only not blocked by an obstacle, they are motivated by it. Today’s most successful CEOs intuitively know that disruption is the gift that leads to success.
Now that you know these traits of today’s most successful CEOs, you can probably see why working with this type of people is so much fun! And why I describe working with these leaders as an adventure.
So my advice to you is to look for leaders with these traits if you want to grow and expand in your career. If you are a leader in an organization, ask yourself what you are doing to develop these traits in yourself and others. Because doing this will not only take your business to the next level, it will ensure you turn all of this uncertainty to your greatest competitive advantage.
