I had a post written until Mike Botkin decided to post this gem on Saturday.

Mike's tweet reads, “I was named COO of a large company at a relatively young age. The CEO and I would meet 2/3x per week and go over anything and everything. Something he did that...I think...helped me. He'd make me send over a 1 sentence list of topics we are going to discuss, and he meant 1 sentence. He created a Google Sheets doc and formatted a cell and said "do not go outside this box. ever."

This unique strategy may seem restrictive, but it served multiple purposes. Firstly, it forced Mike to condense his thoughts, thereby promoting concise and clear communication. If you are in a key position at a company, you want to onboard as quickly as you can to how leadership communicates. You need to get in that rhythm. Secondly, it allowed both parties to identify the crux of each issue quickly, saving valuable time.

During their face-to-face meetings, Mike was allowed to add one sentence of context in person. The CEO would then say, "tell me more...." (let's discuss this) or "move along" (you handle it). This method allowed for an effective and efficient filtering of issues, focusing only on those that materially impacted people, customers, and business drivers.

Mike concluded, “I think it helped me think through items in a higher-level form, I had one sentence and probably 10 seconds of explanation on every single problem. It also allowed me to see him operate from a standpoint of keeping the main thing the main thing."

This one-sentence strategy is a powerful example of how 1:1s can be structured to promote clear thinking, efficient communication, and focus on high-impact issues. While not every 1:1 needs to be so rigid, this approach inspires me to design 1:1s in a way that fosters better connection, communication, and ultimately, business outcomes.

You want your employees and managers to be prepared for 1:1s. I used to love the wandering conversations with my managers, it created connection, but having structure creates more growth and business impact. A lot of topics could have been more async as well.

Thanks to Everest Brady for his help, writing, and research in assembling this week’s newsletter.

This Week on Think Like an Owner

This episode is the fourth in our Launch Series, a partnered episode series with Trilogy Search Partners and Pacific Lake Partners, on the stages leading up to becoming a CEO via the search fund model. Today’s conversation with Jim Vesterman focuses on seller relationships during the deal process. Jim shares his own experience working with the seller of Raptor Technologies, a company he ran as CEO and is now a board member of, as well as other experiences he had with sellers during his search.

This is a discussion packed with insights on building great relationships with sellers and is a perfect complement to our earlier Launch episodes on industry research, starting up a search, and managing a due diligence process. Please enjoy this Launch Series episode on seller relationships with Jim Vesterman.

Read

Listen

This Week in SMB Twitter

Think Like an Owner is sponsored by:

Ravix Group - Ravix Group is a fraction CFO, outsourced accounting, and HR consulting firm serving small and large businesses alike. Whether you or someone you know is getting started, searching to buy a business, or building out an organization, Ravix will help on the journey. To learn more about Ravix Group, head to their website and tell them Think Like An Owner sent you.

Hood & Strong, LLP – Hood & Strong is a CPA firm with a long history of working with search funds and private equity firms on diligence, assurance, tax services, and more. To learn more about how Hood & Strong can help your search, acquisition, and beyond, please email one of their partners Jerry Zhou at [email protected].

Oberle Risk Strategies– Oberle is the leading specialty insurance brokerage catering to search funds and the broader ETA community, providing complimentary due diligence assessments of the target company’s commercial insurance and Employee benefits programs. If you are under LOI, please reach out to learn more about how Oberle can help with insurance due diligence at oberle-risk.com. Or reach out to the CEO, August Felker, directly at [email protected].

Interested in sponsoring? Reply to this email and let’s chat.