Segment 10 (18) CEO Readiness

[Paul Terlemezian]

Panelists:

• David Ellis https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-ellis-0768aa3/
• Rusty Gordon https://www.linkedin.com/in/rustygordon/
• Cynthia Hardy Young https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiahardyyoung/
• Tino Mantella https://www.linkedin.com/in/tino-mantella/
• Chris Reinking https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisreinkingjabian/

Moderator: Larry Duckworth https://www.linkedin.com/in/larryduckworth/

Remarkable Speaker: Jack Alexander - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-alexander/

As an investor - how do you know that someone is "CEO Material?"

What advice would you offer to a CLO who desires to become a CEO of their current company?

What do you believe prepares or prevents a leader from being considered to become a CEO?

[David Ellis]

Typically one is looking for a leader with prior P&L experience and someone whose ego will not get in the way of building a team capable of great things. Typically such a person is most often coming up through the sales and marketing function or the finance function. A background of prior success is ideal.

I can't think of one situation in my background where a CLO has become the CEO.

For a startup the above is ideal but of course a startup is by definition being led by an entrepreneur who may not have done it before. Typically a founder will often migrate from the CEO role when revenues reach various thresholds typically 5/10/$15 million.

[Paul Terlemezian]

Georgia LEARNS will be helping to create a future where the preferred path to CEO includes previous success as a CLO. Your work with us has helped us understand what is needed to accelerate this possibility.

[Bill Crose]

Hi David!  I like what you wrote. Especially this: "Typically a founder will often migrate from the CEO role when revenues reach various thresholds typically 5/10/$15 million."

When discussing this topic @ the conference table, I said I have no interest in being the long-term CEO of my company. I'll find someone I trust to take that role sooner than later, so I can keep doing what I really love and think I'm pretty good at doing. Given that plan, I know the necessity of another conference topic -Collaboration. I don't want to be the RW Deutsch and get kicked out of the company I founded & have to start another, then have the 2 companies I founded merge without me! 

I'm afraid a CLO turned CEO would attempt to resolve every problem with training; probably because that's what I'd heavily default to. One-trick ponies (including accountants who'd default to cutting their way out of trouble, marketers who'd "botta-book-botta-boom" their way out, etc.) don't belong in CEO roles.  

[Paul Terlemezian]

Good point about the CLO to CEO one-trick concern. This is also the concern when the CEO has migrated from Sales or Marketing or Operations or Finance or R&D.

The "candidate" overcomes this concern with a track record that includes some or all of the following:

1. Cross-functional expertise (two or more areas - with success)
2. A keen sense of the customer/market/industry
3. Proven leadership capability
4. ICE in their veins (Integrity, Courage, Enthusiasm) - thank you David!

The Georgia LEARNS vision includes empowering the CLO to deliver "Performance Assurance" which will require world-class capabilities in the above 4 items.

[David Ellis]

Paul, I totally agree with your points 2, 3, 4. Success in prior roles is mandatory but I don't think that is reasonable to expect serious functional expertise in two areas. Experience in different aspects of the business during the career progression is vital.

[Paul Terlemezian]

Thank you David - we agree that experience in different aspects of the business is essential.