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Gwen Bortner | Everyday Effectiveness

Ready to be the CEO your business needs?

Published 12 months ago • 2 min read

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Making the leap from solopreneur to CEO requires a lot more than hiring a team or reaching a certain revenue goal. To truly act as a CEO, you have to fundamentally shift how you think about and run your business. As someone who has guided businesses and their owners through this transition for over 40 years, I've seen firsthand how challenging (and rewarding) this evolution can be.

That's why I'm excited to announce a special 4-part series on The Business You Really Want podcast: From Solo to CEO. Each episode tackles a key aspect of this transformation, from developing the CEO mindset to mastering delegation and cultivating essential leadership skills.

Over the next four weeks, co-host Tonya Kubo and I will explore:

  • The critical mindset shifts needed to think like a CEO
  • Essential leadership skills for managing a growing team
  • How to delegate effectively and build high-performing teams
  • Balancing leadership responsibilities with personal growth and wellbeing

Here's the truth: Your business is already running exactly as it was designed to run. If you're still stuck in the solopreneur mindset, you're likely feeling overwhelmed, burned out, and frustrated. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Your business needs you to go from executor to strategic leader, but it requires skills you might not have developed yet. In this series, Tonya and I both share action steps you can take each week to step confidently into your role as CEO. New episodes drop every Tuesday morning wherever you listen to podcasts.

How do you know if this series is for you? If you're nodding along to any of these questions, don't miss a single episode:

  • Are you struggling to let go of day-to-day tasks even though you have a capable team?
  • Does the idea of "being the CEO" feel uncomfortable or inauthentic?
  • Are you worried about maintaining quality as you scale?
  • Do you feel trapped by your own capacity to get things done?

It's time to build the business you really want — one that runs smoothly whether you're at your desk or on vacation. Let's make that vision a reality together.

Here's to making the leap to CEO,

Gwen

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Systems Check:

Is Your Tech Secure?

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. And as a former IT executive, I feel like it’s my job to remind you of the following best practices when it comes to online security for you and your business.
  • Use a password manager to securely store passwords and share login credentials as needed — Tonya uses Dashlane and I use something entirely different. Other options include LastPass, Keeper and 1Password.
  • Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible — A complete pain in the you-know-what to add extra steps to the login process of the websites you use regularly. It’s also a really powerful way to prevent your accounts from being compromised. It’s worth the inconvenience. Promise.
  • Change your passwords regularly — Every 30 days is recommended but tedious. Aim for at least once a quarter.
  • Don’t use the same password for multiple sites — I think everyone knows this is a bad idea and yet it feels easier to have fewer passwords to remember. That’s why my first advice here is to use a password manager. Remember the login information to the manager, and you instantly can access all of the login information it holds for you.

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

  • ​Schedule a call to discuss how I can help you design your business with intention.
  • Join the Small Biz Book Club to discuss applying big ideas from business books to small business reality.
  • ​Book me as a speaker or podcast guest.

PO Box 1133, Merced, CA 95341
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Gwen Bortner | Everyday Effectiveness

Accountability + Productivity = Sustainable Success

Gwen Bortner is a business advisor who provides outside perspective and unwavering accountability. She’s also the one to ask the hard questions others won't. After four decades of working across 47+ industries, Gwen has learned that marketing and sales have built-in feedback loops — you know quickly if they're working. But the behind-the-scenes engine that runs your business? That's where the blind spots live. That's where successful businesses secretly start breaking down, even when everything looks fine from the outside. Gwen's monthly newsletter provides tips to help you identify bottlenecks others miss so you can build a business that performs well without consuming your life.

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