PRESS: Promote Yourself from ExecuDad to the Father of the Board

My answer is always the same.

“Define the ‘next level’ and then tell me why you want to take your company there.”

From this point, the answers vary, but the sentiment is always the same. Every executive wants his company to grow and to be viewed as “best-in-class.” Executives want customers to think of their company first.

As I begin my coaching process I start from where the executives are mentally. My goal is to help the management team realize that when you focus solely on the outcomes of success, such as profit or market share, you rarely achieve these results and often find yourself and your company in a worse position than before: capital invested did not provide the expected returns; or, promises made to customers later have to be amended or broken. The list goes on.

If you want to become more successful, you must first aim at becoming significant. The only way for a person to be more successful is by the person changing who he is. The only way for a company to grow more successful is for every employee and manager to focus on becoming more than they are today. This focus on becoming more is, at its core, a focus on becoming significant.

The word “significance” can be traced back to the word “sign” which in Latin is “signum” and means mark. A person seeking to be significant is seeking to leave his mark on this world. A company that wants to be successful must first become significant—leaving a mark—in the minds of its customers and in the minds of the employees who create and deliver the company’s products and services.

As an executive who wants to grow your company, you must first look to your direct reports and learn from them what they are passionate about outside of work. This passion is the fuel they need to use to leave their mark on the world. If you figure out how to help your managers release this passion and become significant, they will grow from the inside out and will create immense value in the office and in their lives. In turn, you must teach them to do the same for their direct reports.

Where does this leave you?

Well, if you are an ExecuDad—a father who answers his cell phone because the deal is more important than dedicated family time—you need to promote yourself to the position of Father of the Board. During this family time you need to move from being an executive who is a father to being a father who is an executive.

In essence, understand what is significant in the moment and place the emphasis on that. Make your mark on the moment and on the people you are with in that moment. This is a simple switch, but it is not always easy. Being an executive is important as a father because you can use lessons from the office to help your children become significant and then successful as you teach them to release their passion into their lives.

I appreciate this delicate balance because I am the CEO of Tony Bodoh International and consult with executives worldwide. Time zones require that I answer calls after the work hours have passed. However, I am also the President of Daddy Daughter Days. In this role, I have incorporated my love of family time and my passion for coaching executives into a role of significance. I schedule Daddy-Daughter time every week because, as a mentor told me when my wife was expecting our first daughter, “I can always get another job. I will never have another family.”

With some perspective and some practice, you can move your company and your family life toward success by focusing on significance.

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About Tony Bodoh

Tony Bodoh is the CEO of Tony Bodoh International. His firm coaches executives to create organizational alignment. With a focus on aligning the thinking, relationships, and processes of an organization, Bodoh has a track record of creating extreme value for customers.

Bodoh also uses his expertise to help professionals build successful and significant relationships with their families. As President of Daddy Daughter DaysTM, Bodoh produces live or recorded teleseminars and workshops.

You can contact Tony Bodoh at tony.bodoh at gmail.com or 877-826-2521.

If you are interested in improving your family’s relationships, please visit http://www.podclass.com/tonybodoh to learn more about Bodoh’s workshops.

Tony Bodoh is an expert coach who specializes in aligning an organization’s operations and culture in the service industry. He has a portfolio of alignment projects with financial results ranging from $10 million to over $1 billion. Through projects focused on customer satisfaction and loyalty Bodoh has produced results with double and triple digit improvement in critical scores. Tony Bodoh’s Specialties: Application of Lean and Theory of Constraints principles in service industry.