Our company SME has grown. Am I / Are we the CEO that the company requires?

Those times where we were a few have passed. Over the years, passion and strength (which we have not lost although sometimes it seems like it!) have started to compete with our greater awareness that it is worthwhile to enjoy other aspects of life. “The growth” of our company faces us with challenges of increasing sustainability, risk and complexity.

In this framework, we may ask ourselves: Is it a good decision to continue working with the traditional paradigm of covering the strategic and operational aspects concurrently or can we replace it with a leadership model / strategic direction management by delegating the day to day operations? Do we have the desire and capacity that survival requires to sustain a process of constant evolution of the company now that it has reached a greater dimension?

We can answer this last question considering the different nature of its components.

The desire, have to do with personal aspects of each one of us, closely connected with the preferences and with the choices of how to live life. The desire can be a choice.

The capacity constitutes a different aspect. The ability and the decision of the initial times to turn an idea into a reality, the capacity of effort and dedication, the knowledge of a business are not enough attributes for a company that has grown and is now much more complex.

New capabilities are required. The ability to deepen the professionalization of the company in all its areas and have the knowledge to do so, the ability to put together and lead a management team or solid area managers prepared to jointly carry out a business plan that contributes to the value of the company and its results, the ability to be an excellent communicator that generates enthusiasm and can mobilize the entire organization towards the business objectives, are some examples of the new capabilities that a larger company requires.

Once again, the questions: Do we have the ability? Do we have the desire?

Whether because of lack of desire or for a self-critical capacity judgment, we may begin to perceive the idea of a professional CEO as a closer idea for our company.

The next step is not to make mistakes. Frequent barriers such as the fear of losing control or even the economic cost, though important, are not the most critical aspects of the decision. The most critical aspect turns out to be the approach or the path that we will follow in the incorporation of the CEO so that the initiative works and is successful.

To incorporate a CEO when we as owners and historical drivers are not prepared, when the organization is not prepared (processes, practices, controls, culture), when it is not clear what the contribution will be, constitute factors that undermine the successful implementation of the decision.

For that reason, once the decision has been adopted, a prior action plan must be designed and executed to have an ecosystem aligned and prepared to move to a new stage in the evolutive process of the company.