Contemplating the CEO Role?

What’s the next role?

Are you considering the Chief Executive Officer role for your organization? I recently worked with an executive who spent their career with one organization, thinking they might be a viable candidate for the CEO role when the time was right. They did all the right things: worked hard, continued their professional development, established relationships with decision-makers, and sought coaching to help them determine if they wanted the top job. 

The departing CEO had a very different leadership style and vision for the organization than the senior executive considering the role. The new CEO would need to lead a shift from an authoritarian to an empowering and affiliative culture and address problematic behaviour and practices that had become commonplace.

The senior executive thought they had a good shot at winning the competition. Competing wasn’t the issue. The question was whether they had the heart and energy to do the work that would be required if they got the job. Because they had been with the organization for a long time and knew most of the people who worked there, they knew that some of the changes required would be difficult. 

Here’s a list of questions I posed to the leader. By working through all of them, some through coaching and others independently, the leader decided to apply for the role. They got the job and began the work of change.  

Here are the questions: 

• What is the career you have always dreamed of?
• How does this role align with that dream? 
• What will a decision to apply for this role contribute to your work and life goals? 
• What do you think you owe yourself to consider before applying? 
• What will the role do to your energy level? Commitment level? Heart? Soul? 
• What are the core leadership skills you want to develop?
• How can the role help you develop them?
• Who could be your mentor?
• What’s your vision for the organization?
• How do you see contributing to that vision?
• What must be championed to make the necessary changes to deliver your vision? 
• What would you be able to control if you were a leader?
• What excites you about the possibilities?
• What scares you about responsibility and accountability?
• How do you feel about making the tough decisions you know you must make?
• What do you fear the most should you get the role?
• How can you clarify what you need to know to help you decide?
• What do your HEAD, HEART, and GUT tell you to do?
• Are they in alignment? If not, what do you need to do to get them in alignment?
• If you didn’t apply and stayed, how would you feel working for a different leader?
• Could you work for a leader whose vision does not align with yours? 

Contemplating these kinds of shifts can be very difficult. Leadership can sometimes be a very lonely place, and one does not always have a confidant in the workplace with whom they can have hard conversations. Reaching out to a coach or trusted mentor to work through some of the questions identified can help you make the decision that is right for you.

If you are contemplating a change and need someone to help you sort out your thoughts and feelings, please feel free to reach out. https://nextstagecoaching.ca