C-Suite Blind Spot – Leadership & Success – Lessons from the Entrepreneur

Blind Spot

I recently had a conversation with an entrepreneurial, Chief Executive Officer of a successful mid-sized company. The individual had not only successfully created a niche product category but continued to dominate in this niche over a 20-year period. The company has maintained a profit each year and successfully managed a profitable year with an increase in sales in 2020, despite COVID-19. Worth noting is that this product category is neither deemed vital to public safety nor an essential business so customers purchased based on their awareness, interest and the product-brand filling their needs.

Despite the history of successes, this individual seemed to question decisions made over the last 20 years. There appeared to be some concerns as to whether the entrepreneurial grit that drove the growth of the business was sufficient to navigate expansion on a larger scale.

Does being a successful entrepreneur automatically translate to being a successful C-Suite Executive? Or, does having the entrepreneurial trait hamper c-suite effectiveness?

Illumination

Reviewing past research and comparing entrepreneurial CEO’s to those brought in to manage existing businesses, a few very distinct differences were illuminated.

Both are smart, bright, hardworking, and full of energy. However, entrepreneurial CEO’s embrace risk, are innovators, are passionate about their business, customer driven, are pivot experts, are willing to lose it all, and see things from a futuristic and often 30,000-foot level.

Non-entrepreneurial CEO’s are great at running existing businesses. They parachute in and manage and grow the here and now. They are risk adverse and paid to evaluate and manage their enterprises by the business model. Focus, continuity and execution to plan are the mantra.

Some entrepreneurs such as Steven Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Mush, and Bill Gates have started and continued on to successfully lead and manage their corporations. However, these are examples of the few exceptions.

In the current climate where the world and business environments are driven by so much uncertainty, established companies not only need to execute, but must also innovate and pivot. Executive teams at larger more established companies can consider injecting an entrepreneurial element to their discipline and execution by introducing the Entrepreneurial C-Suite.

This can be done effectively by considering the following:

· Seek outside experts or coaches

· Develop a structure or place for innovation and entrepreneurship

· Seek specific entrepreneurial talent to fill those roles; Build an entrepreneurial team

· Implement an environment of creative problem solving

Many of my accomplishments have been win or lose situations. For me, second place was not an option. My key to success was to assemble a diverse team of specialized individuals who were experts in their fields. Together, we were able to develop strategies that helped me to identity, address and eliminate my “blind spots”. Executives may want to approach their blind spots similarly. When winning or losing are the only two choices, choose to win.