I think the biggest misconception is that anyone can do it. If there was ever a role subject to the Dunning-Kruger effect, this is it. Dunning-Kruger is best defined as “unskilled and unaware of it” and we all go through that in life to one degree or another. I started out in my entrepreneurial journey as the poster boy.
I’ve been either CEO or Managing Partner in nine different companies and as I’ve grown older, what’s been the biggest surprise is how much I still don’t know. In part, it’s what I love about the role and where there is another major misconception.
This idea that you get an MBA and now you’re qualified to run a company is just silly. The best CEOs I know got there two ways. They either grew up in their company and became the resident expert in their business and industry. The other is building one company after another, usually starting small and moving up to progressively larger companies.
I said the best. The worst CEOs I know were handed the role through a friend of family member with about zero qualifications. I know a few who were handed the role by VCs who were old college buddies, or had some other relationship yet never had a prior success running anything.
Another surprise is how much great advice contradicts other great advice. I see it here on Quora by people who have some of the largest followings. They suggest things I’d never ever suggest. The point is, sometimes there is more than one right answer, or the inverse, more than one wrong answer. Your job is to find the right path for your company and that can be extremely difficult. Get comfortable with sleepless nights.
I remember one particular point in my life as a CEO in the 90s, when I’d just signed a term sheet to sell my company. As I was on the phone with a significant investor, I remember telling him that I had no idea if I made the right decision or not. That even after signing, I couldn’t tell if I did the right thing. Even today, looking back, I’m not 100% convinced I made the right choice. That happens.
As I’ve grown older, knowing what I know now, I tend to get advice from a lot of people and I’m far less prone to Dunning-Kruger moments, but I may still stumble into them by accident. I’ve learned to walk first then run. To start, then adjust accordingly, but that may not work for everyone. This is what’s worked for me.
Most people who want to be a CEO want the role because they think there is glamor or power in the role. I see it from the viewport of the duty of the role, and the skills I’ve accumulated that I’d like to still put to use. Others often see it as a position of prominence. I see the responsibility, the honor that goes with it, and the sense of duty to perform and the thrill of results. I saw none of that when I began this journey as a CEO in 1982.