Business development plays a significant role in growing a company. However, it’s the C-suite vision for the company’s growth that drives achievement.

CEOs may not be involved in the company’s day-to-day business development activities, so it’s crucial for this department’s leaders to understand and support their CEO’s overarching goals for the company. To this end, we asked a panel of Forbes Business Development Council members how biz dev leaders can best support their CEO. Their best answers are below.

1. Understand Their Personal Perspective 

CEOs are often people with very particular personality types, interests and expectations. A company-wide goal sent in writing via email might be better understood with a one-on-one conversation with the CEO. The company has stated goals, but the CEO might have a more personal way of evaluating them. Understanding that perspective is critical. – Larry Todd, LeadsRx

2. Align Your Goals To Their Vision 

Develop an understanding of the CEO’s vision for the company and align your goals to it accordingly. If the vision for the company is X, the biz dev leader bringing Y to the table does not help with the CEO’s goals. It’s like asking for apples, but getting oranges instead. No matter how many oranges are brought in, it will not matter if the goal is a different type of growth. – Sue Bhatia, Rose International

3. Keep Them Focused By Saying ‘No’ 

Have the CEO draft a vision of a successful fiscal year. Seek to understand the annual initiatives, quarterly priorities, financial targets and KPIs across the company of the vision. In order to support those goals, help the CEO maintain focus by becoming the Chief “No” Officer. Have the courage to challenge “silver bullet” ideas that might deplete resources and prevent execution of the operational plan. – Jeff Harris, Nomos One

4. Identify KPIs That Tie Back To Strategic Goals 

Find a metric that ties back to the progress of one of the company’s strategic objectives. Determine how every department within the company has contributed to that metric and clearly define how every person’s role directly impacts this metric. From there, outside goals and objectives can revolve around this one KPI. – Christian Valiulis, Automatic Payroll Systems

5. Meet With All Department Heads 

The goals of the CEO are the goals of the company and that drives the goals of the business development department. The department’s main function is to support and help the company achieve their revenue and strategy goals. Biz dev is a long-term play, so meeting with the CEO, finance, strategy and sales department quarterly can line everyone up. – Robin Farmanfarmaian, Actavalon

6. Get The Whole Team Excited About The Big Picture 

It’s not about the work or getting fired up about the bonus plan anymore. It’s about understanding and buying into a strategy that gets people jazzed. It’s about the impact (the why) getting communicated and shared. People want to be part of something big that excites them and gets results. – Wayne Elsey, Elsey Enterprises

7. Understand Their Leadership Style 

One way business development leaders can better understand and support the goals of the CEO is to first understand the CEO’s approach to leadership. Having this basic knowledge will give insight as to what is most valued by the CEO. It can result in better communication, strategy alignment and synergy company-wide, ultimately creating efficiency within the company. – Buck Wagner, TBX®

8. Be Nimble 

Biz dev leaders need to be in constant communication with the CEO about the shifting dynamics of the marketplace because it’s important to adjust quickly to changes in a competitive environment. Some decisions will be fruitful, others not so much. It’s important to be nimble and respond accordingly. – Lev Barinskiy, SmartFinancial Insurance

9. Know Your Audience Well 

Understand your audience. What are their business drivers? What makes them tick? Where do they go to find information? What kind of information are they looking for? – Lynn Metz, Haworth, Inc.

10. Learn To Manage Competing Objectives 

As business development leaders, it’s tempting to focus almost entirely on growth. We must remain cognizant of our CEO’s primary goals. I try to pay special attention to our company’s strategic goals that make growth more difficult (e.g., desire for operational efficiency, margins, cash management, etc.) and tactfully embrace the competing objectives. – Brandon Rigoni, Lincoln Industries

11. Ask How Biz Dev Can Help 

The first step in supporting leadership’s goals is to first have a better understanding of what those goals are. Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised by how few people understand the vision and strategy behind their organization’s goals. Schedule a meeting with leadership to discuss their goals for the organization. Ask how they see you playing a vital role in helping them achieve those goals. – Tyler Harris, Consolidated Assurance, LLC

12. Show Direct Impact On Goals 

Corporate strategic goals are the No. 1 focus area of CEOs primarily because they are usually measured and rewarded for meeting them. Typical strategic goals include increasing revenue, profit, market share, innovation and stock price. Rather than just trying to align with strategic goals, biz dev leaders must show that their actions, programs and the metric results directly impact those goals. – Sarah Knapp, Spruce Technology

13. Never Take Shortcuts 

Stick to the process and conduct the same vetting before every single acquisition, deal, negotiation, etc. Don’t take shortcuts and don’t assume members of the acquisition know everything they should, will be a positive addition or will have customers to bring. Make sure they have a good reputation in the industry with suppliers and in their market with customers and B2B accounts. – Mike Gardner, 101 Mobility

14. Have Regular Communication 

The business development leader and CEO need to be in contact with each other on a regular basis and have a great relationship. I’ve worked in companies where the CEO was basically nonexistent, causing friction rather than actually communicating with myself and the rest of the team to make sure we were going in the right direction. This is crucial to success in any business. – Clinton Senkow, Influencive