How New CEOs Get Stuck & What They Should Do to Move Forward

Becoming the chief executive of a company is an incredible achievement, but it also brings immense challenges and responsibilities. The first year can make or break a CEO’s tenure. I have worked with a number of CEOs who have made this transition and have been successful, but it is always a challenge.  For probably the first time since early in your career you are getting a job that has a number of roles that you have never fulfilled before.

Based on my decades of experience working with CEOs in various stages of their careers, these are the 4 areas that I believe a new CEOs should focus on to ensure their transition is successful:

1. Value Your Time
   As CEO, your time is a precious commodity that must be preserved. It is a finite resource, and yet many CEOs find that their calendar is filled with meetings that they find difficult to decline. Everyone wants your time—leaders, employees, vendors, customers, etc.  Understanding where you should spend your time will help you say “no” so you can focus your time and energy where it is most beneficial. Successful CEOs quickly build a strong support system including a skilled executive assistant and chief of staff. The people in these roles can help you protect your calendar, manage your workload, and allow you to focus on key priorities that only you can address. Focusing your time is critical to limiting the risk of trying to do it all yourself which is not only futile but results in you becoming overstretched and burnt out. Burnout can have negative effects on your ability to make decisions, which is something you cannot afford as a CEO.
2. Assemble and Leverage the Right Team
   The most common pitfall new CEOs make is taking too long to get the right leadership team in place. Within the first few months, you must objectively assess your direct reports and make hard decisions to recruit or develop talent where needed. I recommend that you seek outside support on these assessments as it is challenging to remain objective, especially if you were promoted within. An outside perspective can make it easier culturally to drive change and to limit individual subjectivity.

   Once you have the right team—ensuring you have diversity of thought and experience—then get out of the way. The CEO job is too big for you to also do the job of a member of the leadership team. Experience tells me that this will be your inclination, especially if it is the function that you came from. Awareness of this tendency can help you from falling prey to it!

3. Actively Seek Feedback and Information
   When you become CEO your team will become much more careful about what they share with you. If you were promoted from within, your former peers will no longer share the latest gossip and the decks you see will always be beautiful. You have not changed, but your position has so everyone treats you differently. You need to be intentional about where you get your information and feedback, and you need to widen your aperture of information.

   During your early months, embark on a “listening tour” where you ask probing questions to understand your employee’s perception of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, culture, and politics. Gather insights from employees at all levels, not just senior leaders. Then verify the information you receive against facts and data.

   Build trust with the board by dedicating significant time to transparently sharing information and understanding their perspectives. Build relationships outside of your company and even industry. The more diverse the information you receive the better your strategic decision-making will be.

4. Focus on What’s Right for the Business
   While expertise in your prior roles was invaluable, as CEO you must make decisions based on what is best for the entire organization, not just your familiar areas. Leverage your team’s experience to do their jobs while providing guidance and challenge.

   To optimize the company’s outcomes, you need to understand where you want to focus your time based on the impact you can have and what your long-term goals are for the organization. You achieve this by being explicit about the expectations of your leadership team and by holding them accountable. Resist the urge to dive in during challenging times and instead increase your visibility and accountability, not your time investment.

   Paradoxically, effective CEOs have the humility to acknowledge the limits of their knowledge while displaying resolve to be decisive and adaptable as circumstances change. Acknowledging that you don’t know everything will result in a culture that encourages learning, growth, and teamwork, all of which will benefit the organization in the long run.

While mastering these four areas—valuing your time, building the right team, seeking information, and making holistic decisions—won’t guarantee success, they tremendously increase your odds of hitting the ground running as a new CEO. The first year is for laying the foundation for many years of outstanding leadership and impact.

Written by Pete Steinberg.

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