With many businesses now reaching their financial year end, now’s a good time for your leadership mentor to suggest taking stock of how you, as the CEO or company owner, have performed.

I’ve therefore developed the following CEO/business owner self assessment questionnaire. The objective of this is to review your results against seven key performance criteria. The outcomes should identify the areas of the enterprise you – and any executive trainer you use – need to focus on more in the year ahead.

Against each of the criteria described below, therefore, please rate your current performance on a scale of 0.0 (low) to 4.0 (high). Remember there are no right or wrong answers: being honest and objective are the keys. When you’ve completed the ratings, use a red highlighter to indicate the criteria for which you scored 1.5 or below, as these should be your priorities in the months to come.

Leadership

0.0        0.5        1.0        1.5        2.0        2.5        3.0        3.5        4.0

• Have you set a clear strategic direction for the company?
• Have you communicated this directly to all the business’s stakeholders – managers, employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders?
• Has the organisation responded positively and demonstrably to the strategic direction you’ve set?
• If you talked to anyone in the business, would they be able to tell you its strategic direction/objectives?

Management

0.0        0.5        1.0        1.5        2.0        2.5        3.0        3.5        4.0

• Have you assembled a strong management team to implement and execute your strategy?
• Are these crucial people demonstrably committed to the strategy and are your direct reports held accountable for their performance?
• Do you have an established and effective succession plan for your top team?

Financial Performance

0.0        0.5        1.0        1.5        2.0        2.5        3.0        3.5        4.0

• Have you set clear financial targets and performance ratios for the business – gross profit, return on sales, return on capital, and cash flow – and have these been achieved?
• Are the budgets and targets for next year set and approved?
• Have your managers prepared, presented and agreed with you their plans to hit these objectives, on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis?

Resources

0.0        0.5        1.0        1.5        2.0        2.5        3.0        3.5        4.0

• Have you had adequate funding in place to support the company’s operations and growth during the past year?
• Have you got the right/best people in appropriate positions, to enable you to expand the business?
• Have you had access to new technology and equipment, to support your goals for the organisation this year?
• Are there plans in place to ensure you have the funding, people and equipment/ technology that will enable your business to grow in the year ahead?

Sales and Marketing

0.0        0.5        1.0        1.5        2.0        2.5        3.0        3.5        4.0

• Does the company have a strong and effective sales and marketing plan, process and team?
• Have sales results met your goals and expectations?
• Has sales training and development taken place, how was its effectiveness measured and does the evaluation indicate it was beneficial?
• Have sales and marketing responded effectively to the changing economic conditions?
• Is there a plan in place to improve and strengthen the sales operation’s effectiveness, increase the value of each order and lower customer acquisition and retention costs?

Operational Performance

0.0        0.5        1.0        1.5        2.0        2.5        3.0        3.5        4.0

• How much has operational effectiveness improved over the past 12 months?
• Has progress been made over time in full performance, operational efficiency and implementing continuous improvement and lean process programs throughout the business?

Innovation

0.0        0.5        1.0        1.5        2.0        2.5        3.0        3.5        4.0

• Do you have a customer-focused approach to innovation and improvement?
• Has the company introduced new products and services as planned, on time and within budget?
• Are there plans to implement further innovations, which address customers’ changing needs, expectations and value criteria?

This isn’t an exercise you can dash off in a few minutes. You need to invest time and deep reflection on gaining the insights needed to move things forward. You then need to consider carefully the order in which you’ll address the issues this process has highlighted. If you’d like help from an objective, impartial business mentor and guide, you can contact me at richard.bosworth@thewhatifspecialist.com or follow @richardwhatif on Twitter