ACETECH's CEO Snap Shots brings you the latest from ACETECH and the thought leaders of the tech community!   Each month, you will hear about key issues that technology CEOs are facing with the latest thinking from industry leaders on those issues, in short, what's happening now…and what's top-of-mind from those at the top.  Contact us if you wish to receive ACETECH's Newsletter

You've Changed!
By  Marshall  Goldsmith

How do you know who you are? Likely, you add up all the events in your life that you can remember and this helps you form your sense of self or your identity.  These moments in your personal history, whether glorious or terrible, are touchstones that you can't forget.  They've left an impact - they won't be forgotten - and when you write an autobiography of yourself, these moments will inevitably be recorded.

Successful people, those people with robust senses of self-worth, remember the good, the diamonds, not the bad and the lumps of coal.  They don't dwell on painful and embarrassing episodes of their past.  They wouldn't even consider allowing these moments to define their identity. The trouble is that the further you go back in your past, the greater the chances are that who you were, or your "remembered" identity, doesn't match up with who you are.  The world is full of people who were incredibly popular and successful - in high school.  What's sadder than the adult who "peaked in high school."  Full Article

Executive Compensation - A Tale of Two Perspectives 

By Leo Raffin, Lang Michener LLP

When I wear my public company lawyer hat, executive compensation is largely an exercise in disclosure.  What did management make? What is the compensation philosophy followed by the Board? How did company performance measure up against compensation paid? In some instances you might even argue this is the hard part of public company executive compensation - justifying pay against performance in front of a wide spectrum of shareholder groups, each with their own biases - with the actual executive compensation package, the number, the easy part.  In the case of private companies, the process followed to arrive at the compensation number likely isn't much different than with a public company. However, with a lack of information about comparable companies, getting comfortable with the number may be a challenge.

As every public company must provide significant disclosure on the details (salary, bonus, share incentives and benefits) of its CEO, CFO and other highly paid individuals, there is a wealth of information that can be mined, assembled, and analyzed.  A senior executive's compensation is often established by reference to the compensation paid to similar executives in what the compensation committee of the board determines is a comparable group of companies - all other things being equal.  Full Article 

Driving Performance Through Cash
Management

• We are making sales, but never seem to have enough money
• We can't seem to fund our investment needs from operations
• We are seeing working capital growth exceeding revenue growth
• We have spent a lot of money on new systems, but our cash performance hsa not improved
• We do not know if and when we are going to need more money

Successful business leaders understand that cash flow management can enhance value. With investors, lenders, and other stakeholders putting pressure on businesses to generate more cash internally, CEOs and CFOs are going back to the basics, revisiting how they can manage their business more around cash, and ingraining a cash culture so that benefits are sustainable.

Full Article