I had a coaching conversation recently with a former CEO. He told me he’d come to a simple realization: just because you once ran a company doesn’t mean you should run another one.
Sure, seems obvious in a Substack post. But this insight was hard-won.
My client, we’ll call him S, had a big-time CEO job. But as fate and mergers and acquisitions would have it, his company was dissolved. And he was shown the door.
His immediate reaction was to go and find another CEO job. But then he took some time off to figure out what was ideal. In other words, what did he really want?
After several months of reflecting and scanning the market, he realized he had a big problem: his ego.
His ego wanted a big title. His ego wanted to run the enterprise. His ego wanted control of the P&L. His ego wanted to fly First, stay in 4-star hotels and have car service everywhere.
His ego was quite egotistical and getting in the way.
The reality was that there weren’t a lot of CEO jobs open. And more importantly, S wasn’t actually that interested in the other parts of the job like the pressure, the need to constantly fire people and the loneliness.
In actual fact, S wanted to be back working on a team and making something cool.
He didn’t want the pressure of a board or shareholders. He wanted the self-induced pressure of trying to make something great.
It was a moment of humility. A moment where he realized he will make a lot less money, but his work will be a lot more fulfilling and fun.
It was this moment of humility that lead to clarity.
S didn’t want what his ego wanted.
This was clear. And this is now actionable.
If you want to free yourself, humble yourself.
Rob Schwartz is the Chair of the TBWA New York Group and an executive coach who channels his creativity, experience and wisdom into helping others get where they want to be. This was originally posted on his Substack, RobSchwartzHelps, where he covers work, life, and creativity.
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