Sometimes I read these things and wonder... Does anyone really think that the CEOs job is doing the grunt work.
Like I get that everyone does stuff at a startup, but are you really a 'CEO' if the business isnt even big enough for someone to be dedicated to building out the business yet.
I dont even know if i have a point, but i dont really think anyone is going to read this and go 'of course! all this time i shouldve been a CEO instead of not being a CEO'
I used to work for a CEO who refused to hire a designer or UX/usability expert. She meticulously "designed" the screens of our web application herself using PowerPoint.
The end result was, predictably, fucking terrible. I still can't decide whether to laugh, cringe, or break something when I think about those screens.
I don't work there anymore, but she continued to do this after the company had 15 employees and substantial revenue (I left as soon as I could).
So yes, some CEOs are totally unable to delegate or see past their own arrogance, and they continue to do grunt work when they shouldn't. Some of them (like my old employer) are even successful despite making that mistake.
The CEO is an excellent saleswoman and networker, and she had millions of her own to invest. Anyone can bungle their way to success with enough money to form a safety net for them. She wasn't bungling anything but the product development, though -- sales and morale were excellent.
If, for some perverted reason, I end up in a CEO role at some point (highly unlikely), I hope I can still spare some time very occasionally to get my hands dirty because it'll always be fun tackling ground-level problems. Don't let it detract from your official duties, but I think it'd serve to keep you grounded and keep your rank-and-file in mind at all times.
Not just for CEOs, but for anyone in a role of management. Delegation is good, but incredibly frustrating when delegating a task that takes one's self 5 hours, but 20 hours for someone else with a worse end result. That's where coaching (and remembering how bad you were yourself at some point) comes in, but when deadlines are tight, few people have the ability to let go.
And as another commenter states, letting go can't be done at the start. Natural born CEOs are not people that don't do anything by themselves.
I am reminded, however, simple advice to always hire someone better than you and learn from them. They may not be better in all respects, but always hire someone that is better in some regard.
While great CEOs of large companies do edit much more than they write, I see early stage CEOs that think they can start editing right away, because they're the CEO.
For the first couple years (at least), it takes heroic effort to get something to work and then to build a growth machine around that thing that works, and a founder/CEO needs to do a lot of "writing" to make that happen.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 38.0 ms ] threadLike I get that everyone does stuff at a startup, but are you really a 'CEO' if the business isnt even big enough for someone to be dedicated to building out the business yet.
I dont even know if i have a point, but i dont really think anyone is going to read this and go 'of course! all this time i shouldve been a CEO instead of not being a CEO'
The end result was, predictably, fucking terrible. I still can't decide whether to laugh, cringe, or break something when I think about those screens.
I don't work there anymore, but she continued to do this after the company had 15 employees and substantial revenue (I left as soon as I could).
So yes, some CEOs are totally unable to delegate or see past their own arrogance, and they continue to do grunt work when they shouldn't. Some of them (like my old employer) are even successful despite making that mistake.
Not just for CEOs, but for anyone in a role of management. Delegation is good, but incredibly frustrating when delegating a task that takes one's self 5 hours, but 20 hours for someone else with a worse end result. That's where coaching (and remembering how bad you were yourself at some point) comes in, but when deadlines are tight, few people have the ability to let go.
And as another commenter states, letting go can't be done at the start. Natural born CEOs are not people that don't do anything by themselves.
I am reminded, however, simple advice to always hire someone better than you and learn from them. They may not be better in all respects, but always hire someone that is better in some regard.
For the first couple years (at least), it takes heroic effort to get something to work and then to build a growth machine around that thing that works, and a founder/CEO needs to do a lot of "writing" to make that happen.