7 Deadly Sins of an M&A CEO: An Effective Growth Strategy Attitude

July 4, 2018 | by Securieon

I’m looking forward to speaking at the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Event in San Francisco this fall, during which I plan to share the seven deadly sins of an M&A CEO. Learn about them below!

Are you considering a merger or acquisition for your business? How can you make sure your organization is set up for success? At the Securieon Group, we provide business consulting and management advisory for companies interested in transitioning in 3-5 years. Our outside-looking-in assessments and growth strategy plans help businesses prepare for M&As, so they have the revenue growth and competitive advantage to strike the best possible deal for their organization.

Still, our growth strategy plans aren’t successful if the company’s CEO isn’t on board. Here are seven deadly sins to watch out for in your organization.

The 7 Deadly Sins of an M&A CEO

1. Forgetting that personal failure is a CEO’s best learning tool to share with employees.

• Lack of empathy, passion and emotion alienates founders and their employees.
• They lose their bravado.
• They aren’t able to establish realistic timelines.

2. Lack of discipline.

• Avoiding a deep dive on financial reports can cause CEOs to focus on the wrong issues.
• They need to remain focused on the priorities you can manage.
• Discipline allows them to make the hard decisions quickly.

3. Lack of communication.

• Leadership without clarity of vision, expectations, accountability and performance metrics will not be embraced by key stakeholders or employees.

4. Lack of knowledge.

• CEOs who do not truly understand the job to be done in terms of why customers buy a company’s products and/or services are of little value to the founders and investors.
• Who would value the assets of your organization and why?
• Leveraging existing resources, customers and capabilities is a minimal risk option.
• What value does the company bring to an acquisition beyond EBITDA?

5. Misinterpreting company culture.

• Established company culture is a challenge to change immediately.
• Understanding the dynamics of company culture is job one prior to creating a new company culture.

6. Lack of diplomacy.

• Harsh, blunt comments will prevent open dialog on problems and solutions.
• Diplomacy and decisiveness are hard to balance.

7. Being a know it all.

• CEOs need an inner circle of CEO colleagues and or trusted advisors.
• CEOs also need to:
  • Reflect
  • Collaborate
  • Receive Blunt Assessments
  • Pivot
  • Re-engage

How to Develop an Effective Growth Strategy Attitude

As Winston Churchill said, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” When it comes to building a viable growth strategy in preparation for an M&A, CEOs often experience failure. What’s important is how they learn from that failure and correct the problem. By avoiding the seven deadly sins above, and by following the 10 virtues below, they’re on their way to a successful merger or acquisition!