Alexander Kjerulf is a great writer, and I recommend you check out his blog. I’ve included a sample here of his last post (“The seeeeeeriously cool way out of a downturn”) that’s very relevant to what CEOs are dealing with today.

By the way, I would never tell a CEO to do everything they can to avoid layoffs. Layoffs can hurt a culture, or it can help it – it depends on how they’re handled, and the unique situation of the company. In fact, I’m often suggesting CEOs consider layoffs before they’re ready to accept the necessity themselves, because lots of companies, especially startups, tend to overhire and have too many people anyway. Boards and CEOs like to make aggressive hiring plans based on aggressive growth…which often doesn’t come as fast as they want.

In Silicon Valley/Los Angeles it’s pretty grim here for many CEOs/owners – especially the ones of venture-funded companies. I see that the more stressed they get, the less able they are to get a clear picture of what they need to do to succeed. Whether it’s racing fast cars or going for a hike, getting some mental space, regularly, makes a big difference in your productivity (a big reason why I have CEO groups going in SF and LA – getting together with peers can also create that space).

Eric Golden (CEO of Equipois) & I (Aaron Ross bio) are organizing a formal, facilitated CEO group here on the westside that will meet monthly. The theme of CEOFlow is to explore what it takes to create predictable revenue & sustainable growth. It will consist of a fixed group of up to 12 CEOs which will meet in person and support each other in navigating through the economic turmoil, generating revenue and working with investors and customers in the new climate.