There are 3 phases of running a business with the ultimate phase of becoming the CEO. The first is that of an employee, the second of manager, and then CEO. Most business owners are in the first two phases and never achieve the CEO level. Why is this and what are the steps to become the CEO?
Every single phase is extremely important to a business, and every person in these positions is vital for the business to operate. However, if you want to be the CEO, then you must take steps in a different direction, which takes endurance. Let’s take a look at each step and how to move forward.
Employee: An employee is the one who is doing all of the work, whether physical or intellectual, such as a cook and server at a restaurant or a doctor and a nurse at a hospital, along with all of the other myriad positions. Many business owners become very wrapped up in the day to day operations and never take a break to become a manager or their business has not grown enough to support a manager.
Manager: The main job of a manager is to manage people, projects, and the overall flow of work. Although their main function is to manage these items, they will also need to jump in from time to time to help with tasks and get their hands dirty. Usually business owners are partly managers and partly employees because they are unable to fully let go of operations or their growth does not support a CEO position.
CEO: The CEO is the visionary of the business and is responsible for the business as a whole. Only high impact decisions should be made by the CEO, along with spending time on the utmost important items. A good CEO will do amazing things for a business, while a bad CEO can destroy a business in a relatively short period of time.
Unless your goal is to be an employee-owner or manager-owner, then you must take certain steps to become a true CEO. For some businesses, especially professional services businesses, this task is a little harder due to the technical expertise required to run the business.
Depending upon your goals and resources, the first step is to build up your team. Without a team of employees, you will never progress to the next level of manager. Once you have a team, you need to relinquish your everyday customer-service type activities and focus on managing your employees and the business. Lastly, you’ll need to hire managers to take over your duties to ultimately become the CEO. It only takes 3 steps! Of course, this is easier said then done, and there will be a multitude of roadblocks and challenges along the way.
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