Being the C-Suite of Me.Inc

A guide to lead your own brand as a product

After spending 10 years in consulting, and listening to so many words that started with a C — CEO, COO, CMO, CTO, CFO. C as a word stood out as the elitist word you could have in your title. We also have a term, the C Suite, where everyone is chief of something.

I wondered each day when will I take the plunge, leave my consulting job, and update my LinkedIn profile to say CEO & Founder at Purrfect.com. For those who don’t know — I’ve been planning an elite cat boarding company for long. That was the only way for me to be a CEO, COO, or CMO of something that I could strategize, manage, and market.

One fine night, I was planning my to-do list for the next day, and it felt like I was creating a sprint plan for a sprint that starts tomorrow, and it made me realize — I was my product.

I had a vision of what I wanted to accomplish, I had a market that needed to see my value, and I had limited time and energy that I could invest in an activity. So in a way, I was my CEO, CMO, and COO.

We fail to realize that we are living a life of being in the C-suites of our own company -Me.Inc

I’ll draw some parallels for you to understand all the missed opportunities we’ve had to be C-Suite of Me.Inc (Fair warning — I’m going to quote a lot of Simon Sinek here)

Let’s start with the CEO — the top of the food chain

A CEO is elected by the board and its shareholders. He/She is the highest-ranking executive in a company, whose primary responsibilities include making major corporate decisions, managing the overall operations and resources of a company.

Lucky for you, you are elected by default. You are batman. Unlucky for you is that you have to take that role, even if you don’t want it.

• You are the one that defines the strategy, the vision of where you want to be and, and an action plan on how do you want to get there.
• No product can survive without a strategy and a vision, we lead our lives day after day, and never retrospect — is this where I wanna be? Is this my strategic vision for my career?
• So as the CEO of Me.Inc — you must define your strategy, vision, action plan, and a destination that is so lofty that you’d put your heart and soul into it. Hire people in your life that bring positivity, and fire the ones that take you a self-doubt trip.

As Simon Sinek says “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress, Working hard for something we love is called passion”

Let’s get to CMO

A CMO (chief marketing officer) is a C-level corporate executive responsible for activities in an organization that have to do with creating, communicating, and delivering offerings that have value for customers, clients, or business partners.

• You must always lead all your conversations, meetings with value, show your personal brand — how you are the red box, in the plethora of grey boxes around you. How you bring unmatched value to whatever you pick up.
• Marketing has always been thought of as a cost center that you’ve to invest even when you don’t want to. But in this age and time — marketing is a growth driver that helps you as your business create a network of like-minded people, influencers, and mentors who can help you master the art of personal branding.
• Another part of marketing is being truthful, and not applying a fake face — it comes off one day or the other. Bring your authentic self each day.

As Simon Sinek says — People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe. Hence authenticity is your superpower here.

Let’s get to COO

The COO is responsible for the daily operation of the company and routinely reports to the CEO. He’s the the Robin to your Batman.

• As a COO you are a doer — you get things done, you manage time, energy and you keep an eye on operational risks that might make your CEO angry (also cuz you are your own CEO and you don’t want to make yourself angry)
• You relentlessly find leaner ways to operate, to prioritize tasks and people that matter, and follow the goal to the T. You make strategic decisions daily that help you get closer to your goal each day.

As Simon Sinek says “Dream Big, Start Small, but most of all Start” — once you start there is no stopping — you’ll surprise yourself with how much you can get done if you focused on doing deep work, and cut unnecessary noise from your life.

So today, I welcome you to the C-Suite of Me.Inc — be the leader you wanted to be, channel everything you wanted your C-Suite to do. Be the owner of your own product. You are the only one who has control over what your product offers, strategizes, markets or sells. You define and bear the fruits of your labor, You have the ability and power to make decisions in every area of your life, your happiness, your friendships, and your contentment.

Take a stab at being your own C-suite and start making a difference to your life by making the mindset change today. :)