Good Entrepreneur but a Bad CEO? Here are 5 Reasons You’re Struggling to Step into the CEO Role

As an entrepreneur, you’re creative; you’re innovative, you’re passionate. You take risks, chances, and you’re not afraid to fail. Your social skills are probably better than most other people you know.

But, a great entrepreneur doesn’t automatically equal a successful CEO. 

5 Reasons You’re Struggling as the CEO

Are you a great idea person but unsure about your role as the CEO? Here are five reasons you might find yourself struggling to step into a leadership position.

You Want to Be Overly Involved

Sounds counterintuitive, right? As an entrepreneur, it’s understandable that you want immersion in all of your business’s goings. Still, too much involvement prevents you from fully thriving in your zone of genius and stifles your team.

A good CEO knows how to let their team handle their tasks without micromanaging. Yes, you need to be kept in the know, keep track of your company’s successes and setbacks, and coach your team to the win, but a good CEO knows when — and how — to delegate.

You Don’t Know How to Hire the Right People.

You’ve got the entrepreneurial spirit. You are likely energized by those who are enthusiastic about your business as you are. But, enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily mean a qualified hire.

The most successful CEOs approach hiring their team like playing a chess game: strategically evaluating how each piece could lead to a win.

You Have a 10 Year Plan

Hear this one out. 

It’s crucial to have goals in mind and success on the horizon, but a good CEO knows that being rigidly dedicated to a plan leads to failure. You don’t know what your industry, the market, and your own life will hold in the next ten years.

A CEO destined for success knows how to plan for the future but is adept enough at business to pivot and prevail, no matter what comes.

Your Social Skills Are Fantastic, But Not Your Communication Skills

Entrepreneurs are a creative, intelligent, and inventive bunch, and people are drawn to this type of charisma. But good social skills don’t mean being a great communicator. 

Creative people often spend so much time thinking, creating and being inside their minds that the communication of their ideas and how they want them executed can be lost in translation. The strongest CEOs know when it’s time to hire a business consultant to develop the skills needed to communicate effectively and clearly with their teams.

You Have the Vision, But Not the Strategy

Goals are where you want to be, but the strategy is how you get there. 

You know that being a business owner involves taking some risks, — and maybe breaking some rules — along the way. But, if you don’t have a laser-focused strategy, you’re going to be stuck in the fog somewhere between success and stagnation.

With clarity, intention, and purpose, an entrepreneur can transform into a good CEO. Sometimes, it just takes help from a third-party perspective.

You Can Learn What it Takes to Succeed as a CEO

Coach Allison Todd is the warrior spirit on the front lines with you and the voice that tells you that you can do it. With clarity, a water-tight team, and a dynamic strategy, you can gain the skills and confidence you need to elevate your entrepreneurship into full-on CEO.

By Alison Todd April 4, 2021