My CEO Life

Working for a business takes up a significant part of every day and when you are travelling it can take up even more time however how often is it that you end up working with people that you just don’t get on with.  Well i think a question that is important to ask yourself in any interview is “does this person pass the beer test?”

Now what do i mean “beer test”?  Well the beer test is simple – would i want to go and have a drink with this person.  The real question is can i get on with this person over a long period of time and is this someone who fits with the culture of the business.  Now i have seen this work well (much to my liver’s regret). 

I think a team that can play hard, enjoy each other’s company and work hard can overcome any obstacle they come across.  I also think that being able to relax with people and take time out with them (over lunch, dinner, or a drink) allows you to get to know them better and allows you to solve problems that often don’t get solved in a more traditional business environment.  Business doesnt have to be about endless meetings, suits and stale offices.

1. Do You Really Know How Happy Your Team Is?

   Business always conducts employee satisfaction surveys in an attempt to find out just how happy their teams are. Often, when they revew the results, they are looking for downside risks rather than upside positives. In addition they will spend time...

2. What Makes Great Culture

   I think we have created a great culture at the REA Group.  The question is, what makes this a great culture … what are the elements and how did we do it? For me, a great culture has the following...

3. Employees as Customers – A Simple but Compelling Concept

   I received the following question the other day “Would you say there was one single concern that topped the list of concerns for CEO’s of large companies (e.g., Fortune 1000 size)?  In other words, while I know there are a...

4. Building a Business on Passion

   I was recently thinking about what makes a great person in the business i run and the common trait that kept coming to mind was PASSION. It seems to me that my team members who are truly great are those...

5. Conferences – Getting the Most Out of Them

   So, for those that have been following my blog will realise that last week we had our half year annual conference. Wed / Thurs / Fri last week we ran many sessions for people from all parts of the business. ...