It can get lonely at the top. Many company founders who become CEOs find this out the hard way and yearn for a return to “the good old days” of getting their hands dirty. That desire to remain on the frontlines, battling like they did on day one is admirable but not necessarily the best tack for the company or the CEO.

Keeping Pace

As a company progresses from infancy to an established enterprise, the skills required of its CEO diverge and evolve. At a watershed point, the emphasis must shift from disruption to consolidation so momentum is not lost. (Note that it is a shift in focus, not a complete rejection of the earlier mindset.)

One of the most common drivers of this change is team expansion. An operation initially handled by five people in a single room may easily quadruple in the number of people and the number of rooms. The flow of information to the CEO now has to go through a filter of subordinates and that departure from organic interaction can be unsettling for any founder.

Another area of potentially momentous change is finance. The CEO of a fledgling business is often preoccupied with generating sales to break even so they can pay staff, partners, and suppliers. After the company has secured a foothold in the industry, the pace relents and considerations such as staff health plans, corporate insurance, and standards compliance take precedence.

Ask the Expert

The onus lies on the Founder-CEO to match the cadence of the company’s progress, not the other way around. Some leadership experts argue that the best way for a CEO to do this is to ask the same questions at regular intervals and course-correct as required.

There is no comprehensive list of questions but here is a sample:

  • What is the one thing I would like to have known when I started?
  • What was my biggest incorrect assumption when I started?
  • Where have we exceeded our expectations?
  • Where have we not met out targets?

Such questions revolve around progress and can help uncover forks in the road which could and/or should be taken. It is never too late to learn the answers.

Getting a project off the ground is usually the most difficult part of the journey. The subsequent legs can be a lot smoother if the CEO maintains the discipline to constantly reassess his or her role within the company.

At DeSantis Trusted Advisors, we provide consulting, advisory, and coaching services to businesses and their stakeholders with the goal of creating pathways to success. Contact me today to learn more.