Why Being A CEO Isn’t Always What You Think

CEO might actually stand for “Chief Everything Officer.” But don’t be alarmed by the headline. Let it strengthen you.

Common Misconceptions of Being CEO

The definition of emancipation has always been to be your own employer and make all the decisions. Most people who are moving up the ladder aspire to the reality of setting their own hours and having no one but themselves to answer to. This appears to be the case for start-up founders looking through the looking glass. Even so, we contend that the vast majority of business owners, especially those who have ostensibly “made it,” fail to achieve this lifestyle.

Surprisingly, 90% of start-ups fail, with 10% failing within the first year of operation. There are a number of reasons why this might be, but the most commons ones are a lack of money, a shaky founding team, and weak market demand.

As a result, founders are always concerned about the possibility of failure and constantly try to avoid it at all costs.

The truth is that you need a diverse group of stakeholders to develop a successful company. Spend your days interacting with co-founders, other C-suite executives, employees, consultants, and investors on a range of issues.

Entrepreneurship can often resemble a demanding internship more than anything else, whether it’s making sure your business remains legally compliant in a regulatory environment that is always changing or dashing across town to shake hands with even the most improbable potential partner. You soon realise that even the most successful CEOs struggle to carve out a little bit of time for themselves once you enter the workforce as your own “boss” and safety net.

Chief Of Everything Officer

CEOs are frequently the most overworked employees in organisations, where organisations have modest headcounts. The majority of the time, every worker or service provider you hire will need a job description and a scope of work. There will probably still be gaps in the organisation despite a rising workforce that cannot (and possibly shouldn’t) be filled. The sad truth is that some roles aren’t worth hiring for when the task can be transferred within, as antiquated as it may sound. In light of this, it is usual for the CEO to be assigned unexpected assignments or tasks.

As a result, it should come as no surprise that the majority of CEOs and founders experience burnout, which affects 66 percent of business executives, according to a recent poll. The causes are well known: intense passion for their work, social isolation, a lack of adequate safety nets, and a high level of uncertainty. Employee burnout as a whole strains workers’ finances and resources and costs the U.S. economy somewhere from $125 billion to $190 billion in healthcare expenditures.

Increasing the number of employees does not necessarily solve the problem of employee workload. The most successful businesses, are those that expand only in response to market or product-market-fit events that compel them to do so. The higher output that results from an increased personnel can occasionally be offset by increased workplace politics, which puts additional strain on a new company’s runway in addition to increasing productivity. The adage “addition by subtraction” is well known, however in this instance, the addition might really result from remaining put.

The “Why?” Factor

While social media has provided young enterprises and entrepreneurs with countless distribution channels, it has also turned into a haven for exaggeration and false information. One of the least talked about aspects of entrepreneurship, despite being a defining factor of social media, is that you are pressured to appear “perfect” at all times.

Given that your entire character profile strongly determines whether or not stakeholders believe in your ability to accomplish your job effectively, there isn’t much room for vulnerability or personal weaknesses on social media. 84 percent of business owners concur that the stigma surrounding mental health in the start-up ecosystem still exists and forces many people to suffer in quiet.

The majority of entrepreneurs don’t spend their days on a remote island with a name you’ve never heard of, which is unfortunate or perhaps fortunate. Instead, the majority concentrate on securing the following round of investment or bringing a good or service to market. The majority of them wish their lives were even a fraction as carefree as the general public since they frequently lack sleep, family time, and general rest. You cannot escape the rat race by founding a business in a fragile and unpredictably changing economy. You are just placed in a more hostile environment.

Entrepreneurship is about working for those who are committed to the cause, not just because it might make you rich or famous one day, but also because of the high you get when you break down obstacles and witness the culmination of your creative psyche.