Like It or Not, You Need To Be CEO

Whether you wanted the job or not, congratulations, you have been promoted to CEO. Even though your passion may be focused on the product or service you deliver, you are now the leader and you must lead your company. Even if you didn’t or still don’t want the job, it’s yours. Employees, customers, vendors, advisors and investors will all expect you to step up and lead.

“Even if you didn’t or still don’t want the job, it’s yours. Employees, customers, vendors, advisors and investors will all expect you to step up and lead.” 

When asked whether their goal was to “lead a company,” many entrepreneurs will say, “no.” They will say that what motivated them was their passion, their niche, their product, their idea. In fact, many may not have thoroughly considered the “company” part of being an entrepreneur. Think of the doctor, the technologist, the jewelry maker, the fashion designer, the consultant, the scientist and the publicist. They see a way for their unique product or service to come to life. They rarely think about offices, finances, capital, organizational structure, team management, priority setting, and the list goes on.

The passion of entrepreneurs is focused on the product or service that they know, love, or feel. It’s not on the organizational activities that make a business work. But now that you have the job, you must understand the impact you will have if you don’t lead, or if you lead with the wrong perspectives. You must understand how you are perceived, the impact of your actions, the do’s and don’ts and how you must act and communicate as the CEO.