The CEO’s Job Description
The Operating Leader – January 2022
The CEO’s Job Description
If you are a CEO and founder of a technology start-up company, there have most certainly been days when you wondered what your job was, and worse than that, wished there was someone else that would do whatever was occupying your time prior to that brief moment of reflection. A CEO, especially when starting is everything from chief cook to bottle washer – you do it all because, if you don’t, it simply will not get done. At some point, you will need to find a way to stop doing everything and start doing what’s essential for success. First, know what is important – i.e. define your priorities and give them your focus. Be intentional about the attention you give them. That’s how you get work done.
Being a start-up CEO is not for the faint of heart. If you don’t like responsibility and would rather not be held to account for just about everything you do, then look for another career because being a CEO is not for you. If you do a few Google searches like “Start-up CEO’s Job” you may find a blog like I did about seven years ago that described the job of a CEO as: Strategy, Money and People. It is difficult to argue with this point of view. If you have a winning business strategy, and the money and best people to implement that strategy then you’re on your way. Easy to say and so difficult to do. I would add a fourth word to the CEO job description – Execution.
The point of a company is to make money. You will never get there unless you build a company that hits milestones, works toward goals and tries every day to do what it has set out to do. Successful companies have an execution bias, they hit milestones and they serve mission daily. They have a culture of getting work done – they execute. Companies that execute get funded. Companies that don’t, well you can finish that sentence. Leaders that commit and deliver attract similar behaviours in their people.
Just as start-ups are in search of a repeatable and sustainable business model, I would argue that from day one as CEO you need to do what you can to build a repeatable and sustainable methodology for executing the business of your business. Structure, properly implemented in your business operations can add efficiencies and improve how you work, ultimately allowing you to focus on getting the work done and your goals achieved. What kind of structure have you seen implemented that improved efficiency and therefore enabled execution?
I have been working with start-up leaders and innovators for over 20 years in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I have worked in companies as a mid-level manager, as senior and executive management, as a founder and, on and off for the last 14 years, as an embedded executive and advisor.
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