Whilst the job title may be the same, startup CEOs face very different challenges to CEOs of multinational businesses, pushing them to make use of skills that many other positions may overlook.
The skillset needed for a successful CEO is both broad and diverse. Yet, in my experience of taking PushFar from a vision to a leading global platform, there were certain skills that I utilised, that if I had jumped into CEO of a fully-fledged and thriving company, I may not have understood the importance of.
Resilience
It goes without saying, starting a business can often feel as though there are more knock backs than steps forward, with ‘20% of startups failing within the first year, and nearly 90% not making it past the five-year mark.’ Resilience is a primary skill needed for success. Each time you get back up, the chances of success are more likely: ‘Serial entrepreneurs who have failed before, still have a 20% chance of success in their next startup.’
When starting out with PushFar, I learnt that one of the biggest strengths that startups and small businesses had, over larger competitors, was agility to pivot, evolve and scale features, functionality and even the product as a whole. This is vital for entrepreneurs’ looking to succeed and when competitors crop up, the resilience required to keep going, can be further supported by the knowledge that you will, in almost every case, be able to move faster and more efficiently than a large company.
Vision Focus
One of the most vital skills for startup CEOs is creating and focusing on a vision. As simple as this sounds, when creating a company, implementing a brands identity is crucial, especially when building the primary foundations. For multinational CEOS, the company already has structure and a solid identity, so following a vison is often clearer. However, channelling the founding concepts at the heart of all decisions is still of great importance for keeping consistency to a brands messaging.
Whilst it seems a slight paradox, adaptability goes hand in hand with being vision focused. Being able to adapt and think strategically is crucial in this ever developing and uncertain world; whether it is technology or the political landscape. However, the need to adapt increases the importance of keeping focused on the non-negotiables that make the brand what it is, especially in the early stages.
When creating PushFar, our initial concept was to create a platform that made mentoring easily accessible, and we kept this purpose at the forefront of all decision making.
Leadership
Although leadership should be a skill that is a priority to all senior positions in a business, it is especially important for those in startups. In the early days of a business, there is not a set way of working, and finding the best approach takes time and experience. Therefore, whilst everyone is finding their feet, having a strong sense of leadership is necessary. As the CEO, everyone will be gauging the way forward from you.
Choosing a management style for the business depends on a variety of factors, from the industry to the workforce. Integrating a leadership style is not a one size fits all approach, from hands off to Autocratic or vertical approaches; it is usually more of a spectrum, developing over time, being adapted specifically for those being managed. Emotional intelligence and learning how to understand your employees’ needs is key to ensuring you implement any leadership style effectively.
Ability to be multi rolled
All CEOs should have a proficient level of awareness of each role that goes in to keeping the cogs to the business turning. However, the ability to carry out multiple roles at once is a different question. In the early days of starting a company, there is not a large team to lead on the various department and can often lack of budget.
A CEO of a startup will have to utilise their skills for areas such as marketing, sales and finance management. The ability to network and negotiate and are just a couple of the crucial skills that will need to be applied to cover all mandatory areas of running a business and getting it off the ground.
How mentoring can help
Being the CEO of a startup is both exciting and daunting. Using a mentor is a great way in which you can identify the most important skills required and how to utilise such skills most effectively. Using a mentor who has prior experience in startups and the wider industry itself can be of great use for navigating the path to success.
