Everyone's in the Middle, Even Your CEO

As a new (four months) CEO, I’m still adjusting to the role. One of the biggest changes is recognizing that I can’t just act at my own natural pace, but instead need to allow time for many different stakeholders to participate.

Some people think, “When I’m in charge, I’ll do things my way.” In reality, the people who think this way seldom end up in charge.

The reality is that almost all of us are in the middle. As a leader, I have investors and analysts and board members and partners and executives and employees to please. Some days, it seems I used to have an easier time exercising initiative in my pre-CEO days.

I love to control my own time and am very organized. I could get a great deal of things done in fast order. But you don’t get big things done that way. The more you want to achieve, the more time you have to allow for others to understand and embrace your vision, or even to collaborate and co-create a vision that works for all.

Together, we can do amazing things. But creating a “together” state takes time and effort… and you can’t rush past that work.

#leadership #initiative