When to fire yourself as CEO?
Most CEOs don鈥檛 usually think about putting themselves up on the firing block, but there any many instances where you as the CEO of the business may be holding your business back. You need to be honest in your assessment of yourself as CEO, to make sure you are in fact the right person for the job. This post will help you identify certain scenarios where a CEO change may be necessary, even if it means you firing yourself from the job.
You No Longer Have the Right Skillsets
Most entrepreneurs are very good at taking a 鈥減iece of paper鈥 idea, productizing it, taking it to market and getting initial traction for the business up to the first $10MM in revenues of the company鈥檚 growth curve. That is not an easy feat, and you should be very proud of that accomplishment. But as the company then needs to scale from $10MM to $50MM in revenues for the next phase of its growth, that typically requires a very different skillset. Now you are talking about launching new products, new markets, international expansion, mergers and acquisitions, and other techniques that may be unfamiliar to you.
If you suddenly find yourself drowning with the new challenges of your later-stage growth, it may be the right time to find your replacement that already has those proven skills. And you shouldn鈥檛 feel embarrassed about admitting this鈥攜ou should feel empowered that you were actually smart enough to assess the situation and how best to resolve it. You still have your equity ownership, and wouldn鈥檛 you want your stock price growth to have the highest chance for success as a shareholder? Sometimes, that could be in the hands of somebody other than yourself.
You Have Run Out of Ideas
If your business is struggling and you have tried everything you possibly could to 鈥渞ight the ship鈥, it may simply be a function of 鈥測ou don鈥檛 know, what you don鈥檛 know鈥. You are only as smart as your own education and experience has made you. But sometimes a 鈥渇resh set of eyes鈥 is exactly what the business needs to turn it around. That new CEO may see some easy fix, based on their past education and experiences, that was simply in your blind spot. So, if you often find yourself scratching your head without the right answers to your business鈥檚 challenges, maybe it is time for a new CEO.
You No Longer Have the Passion For the Business
An equally important part of being successful as a CEO is having the right 鈥渇ire in your belly鈥 to succeed at all costs, no matter what challenges get thrown your way. If you find yourself losing that passion or getting bored with the business (which can easily happen the longer you are there), it is very easy to lose focus and basically 鈥済o through the motions鈥, with the business 鈥渃oasting鈥 based on historical efforts and not 鈥渁ccelerating鈥 with new ideas and efforts. You are not doing your shareholders (including yourself) any favors by sticking around in this scenario. Be smart enough to know when you have 鈥渕entally checked out鈥 and find your replacement that is as excited about your business and its potential, as you were when you first started.
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You Are Not Getting Along With Your Team
Being a successful CEO requires building a great team that is gelling well with each other. Just like in any marriage, sometimes relationships can sour over time. Maybe it is your fault, and you are ruffling everyone鈥檚 feathers. Maybe its your colleagues fault, and every word out of their mouth drives you crazy. Whatever the situation is, a business won鈥檛 thrive if the team cannot get along with each other. Either they need to go, or you need to go, to find team members that will actually respect each other and enjoy each other鈥檚 company when 鈥渟logging through the mud鈥 together.
You Have Lost the Confidence of Your Colleagues
Maybe you feel you are doing a good job as CEO, but if your fellow employees, partners or investors don鈥檛 think you are doing a good job. In this scenario, maybe it is time for you to go. This can be a really bitter pill to swallow. You look in the mirror and see success, and your colleagues look at you and see short fallings. But if the team has lost confidence in you, it is time to show yourself to the exit, as the team will not follow a leader that they do not think is leading them in the right direction. And it could be better for you to step down on your own terms, than wait to get fired by your board when they have seen enough (which will be a lot harder to explain to your new employers).
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully, this post helped you complete your own self-evaluation in your role as CEO. After reading this post, do you still think you are the right person for the job? If so, great, it鈥檚 full steam ahead. But if anything in this post resonated with you as 鈥渟triking a chord鈥, it may be time to have that very difficult conversation with yourself. Your business, team and shareholders (including yourself) will thank you!!
George Deeb is a Partner at Red Rocket Ventures and author of 101 Startup Lessons-An Entrepreneur’s Handbook.
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