My current employer is recruiting for a new CEO. While the Board looks for the right candidate to fill that position, I have stepped up to support the organisation by taking on Acting CEO.
Given my almost two years in the job as Deputy CEO and a couple more as Head of Communications, it was a natural progression. So natural in fact that I have been consistently asked, so did you apply for the CEO job?
My answer has surprised most people. I did not apply.
My sister said something a while ago that has really stuck with me. She said, “We are looking at the SWOT analysis all wrong. Instead of looking at the four SWOT quadrants (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), there should be five sections. We should be dividing our strengths into two parts so we can not only see where we excel but also which of our strengths most energises us. We can be good at lots of things but it is only natural that some of those energise us more than others.”
Over the past few years I’ve moved from specialising in communications, change management and stakeholder engagement to having a greater focus on management, operations and business sustainability.
I’ve enjoyed the success I’ve had delivering on the objectives while wearing my Deputy CEO/Acting CEO hats. Succeeding at anything gives me a certain level of satisfaction. Supporting others to achieve their objectives also gives me job satisfaction, as does supporting the Board in a time of internal change.
In a number of my senior roles I have worked through some complex management issues and led teams to develop strategic and operational plans in order to deliver on large scale projects for our stakeholders. I have managed budgets, timeframes, staff performance and everything else that comes along with senior executive roles and responsibilities.
But, coming back to my sister’s question, what energises me most in my worklife?
With only so much time in our lives to work and play, how can I make sure I maximise professional time by focusing on those energising strengths?
When thinking about the prospect of applying for the permanent CEO role, I did a review of each of my strengths against that all-important energising factor. And, after quite a bit of career soul searching, I closed the book on CEO as a future career prospect.
When I say I have no ambition to be a CEO, the first response has usually been one of reassurance, assuming that I don’t have confidence in my ability or the professional readiness to step into the role.
This is absolutely not the case. I know I can do the job and do it well.
I am proud of the work I’ve done in the Deputy CEO/CEO space to date and have often received feedback from Board, Staff and peers acknowledging my professional ability and personal commitment to these roles and responsibilities.
Being able to do the job and wanting to progress in the direction of CEO as a long term transition are two very different things. That said, when the traditional career ladder is still the majority expectation, communicating my career ambitions and next steps to those within and outside my sector has been challenging at times.
In speaking with friends in other industries I have found those who don’t wish to progress up that ladder have come across similar reactions. My lawyer friend who is content being a Senior Associate and personally and professionally chooses not to jump through the Partner hoops experienced the same reactions as I did. “They look at me with sympathy, as though I haven’t tried to make Partner due to some sort of personal doubt. What they don’t realise is that I’m looking at them in that role with the same sympathetic look in my eye. Not for me thank you very much!”
As has my mate who works in Human Resources and recently resigned from a global Head of Department role managing dozens of people to become a training consultant who works on a project basis without direct reports. “Taking on that role meant I wasn’t doing the doing anymore; I was managing people who were doing the work I loved. I thought a promotion was what I wanted but I had lost sight on why I got into this profession in the first place – that joy of teaching”.
I think there are some important questions to answer when considering the career path that suits you. What type of work energises you? What type of life do you want to lead? I think we could all benefit from doing a SWOT analysis on our whole lives, not just our career.
We could also be more mindful about how we react to our colleagues and friends when they seek out alternatives to the traditional corporate ladder. There is a lot of talk about work life balance, flexible career options and alternatives to the supposed ‘top job’. But, given my recent conversations, we aren’t quite there yet in terms of walking that talk.
I am a communications and stakeholder engagement professional who will continue to strive to be at the top of their game and forge a career path that motivates and challenges me. I want a top job, as I define it; which for me isn’t the top job of CEO.