eric douglas

The new CEO of a mid-market company has very different challenges when compared to a CEO of a large company. In the larger companies an executive can be groomed for the job over many years, have access to mentors and advisors, but in many Mid-Market companies the CEO is offered the job often with little training or preparation. As a result the new CEO is often surprised by many issues that a more seasoned CEO would not lose any sleep over.

The first surprise is how quickly the new CEO is overwhelmed by the sheer volume and intensity of demands on their time. Instead of realizing he or she is only human, they yield to the temptation to let connections to family and friends wither as the business demands consume their life and time. However, even though they are flooded with information, they have a hard time figuring out what is really going on as much of the information they receive is not reliable.

A good CEO has a built in "spin detector" to weed out those employees are only trying to please the boss and put a positive spin on things rather than telling it like it is. Until the new CEO develops a really good spin detection capability, they need to get out and walk around the office or factory and go on sales calls to hear the "straight goods" from others who are not interest in putting a spin on what is going on.

"Decision creep" is another challenge for the new CEO. Employees line up at the bosses office trying to get the new CEO to make as many decisions as possible and free the employee from doing their homework and making the decision themselves. Once the new CEO realized they have fallen into this trap, it is tough to change gears and get employees to make decisions and only involving the CEO when necessary.

An experienced CEO often checks 800 dials a day of what is going on, a bit like an airline pilot checks the gauges in the cockpit. However during the early days the CEO often needs lists to remind them of what to check and what to follow up on. However these lists can become several pages long which means the CEO is trying to do too much. A key lesson for the CEO is being able to pick the two or three key things and delegate or ignore the rest.

Repetition is a common complaint of new CEOs. They are frustrated at having to repeat their message over and over again, not realizing that every time they say or do something, the employees react by spending hours amplifying, scrutinizing, interpreting and often misinterpreting the message. It is only the constant repetition that finally reduces their need to scrutinize the message looking for hidden meaning.

There are very few employees who can be given instructions, and the CEO can relax knowing the work will be done. The new CEO finds they have to spend endless hours following up on the little things that others have promised to get done and yet are still not done.

When things change the new CEO is expected to have psychic powers to know how the change will turn out and what needs to be done. It is a hard lesson for the new CEO to mouth the words, "I don't know." However this needs to be follow up with -"but I will find out." In large companies many of the answers can be found at the end of a phone call or email to the relevant expert on staff or on retainer. However in the mid-market company - finding out can be a lot tougher as the resources and data available tends to be limited.

Current business literature pushes the need for CEO's to become great story tellers. However we find the new CEO can often get more done with a checklist of items to discuss with others than trying to perfect their story telling. However there are some items that can be especially tough for the CEO to deal with. We call these the Show Stopper List. Some of the challenges that get on to this list are: when management cannot agree on the future direction of the business; cash flow challenges or the banker giving the company a hard time; losing key customers or having to drop prices to get customers; as well as issues like struggling to get work out the door on time; losing key personnel and late and inaccurate financial reporting; not to mention the dealing with the day the shareholders decide to sell the business you are running.

So for the new CEO it is best to think of the job as a marathon, not a sprint - and pace themselves as they will probably face one or more items on the show stopper list every year for most of their CEO tenure.

eric douglas

eric douglas

eric douglas

Stuart Morley MBA is a world renown expert to mid-market companies during their tough times. Find more information on mid-market companies which includes video clips, articles and order his recently published book.

eric douglas: eric douglas

This article, the best article ever, kindly provided by UberArticles.com