Considering investing in training as a CEO? I get it. As a fellow Visionary CEO, I’m constantly forward-thinking — where can I improve my skill set to help clarify my vision? What can I learn to help my team perform at their best?
But the thing that took me some time to realize is that constantly learning new skills isn’t always the best solution. Don’t get me wrong; learning new skills is necessary for us entrepreneurs. Partnering with success coaches, attending seminars and workshops, working with the brightest business consultants out there — I’ve done it all and loved every bit of it.
But CEO training can only do so much. Fueled by my past experiences and failures, I've found that what CEOs need isn't more training to scale the company. What they truly need is someone who helps them fully unleash all of those skills and techniques; someone who handles the day-to-day tasks many of us Visionaries aren’t good at, making it easier to refocus on the vision that sparked us years ago.
I'm here to help you do that by finding the right people and delegating the right tasks. Ready to use those leadership skills you've been training to reclaim your visionary leadership status?
The Siren Song of CEO Training
If you know anything about me, I’m deeply passionate about entrepreneurs and leaders continually investing in their growth and development. As CEOs, we know that we still have more to learn and more potential to unlock. We crave new ideas, experiences, and tools — that drive is a good thing, and in many cases, coaches help us cultivate that toolkit.
What I’ve recognized over the years, though, is the danger of throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars into coaching and training with the expectation that it will solve every problem. While great in principle, CEO training alone also comes with its downsides:
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Expense Without Clear ROI — Coaching and training is a direct cost. However, it doesn’t always offer quantitative ways to measure success or achieve ROI.
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Time-Consuming — Coaching takes up the time of most CEOs without creating more time for efficient self-management. When you’re looking for ways to improve processes and save time, this can be counterproductive.
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Someone Else’s “Solutions” — While not always the case, some coaches are unproven and offer solutions that are not actually designed to solve your unique problems. You and your company are unique but many training programs will push clients to become their own idea of an ideal leader instead of helping them unleash their potential.
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Can Create New Problems — When coaching offers solutions that don't solve the problem, they can instead make matters worse. Telling a CEO to make changes without comprehending the effects can create new problems.
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False Sense of Accomplishment — When a CEO completes a training routine, they feel accomplished even if the original problems or goals were not solved or reached.
I distinctly remember the day I gave up on DIY CEO training. I had just sunk another multiple five figures into training and development as a CEO. But rather than results, I just ended up with a giant to-do list of new things I had to self implement. And I was already overwhelmed!
It was this day that I realized maybe the solution to my problems wasn’t another class, but rather another person who was almost my polar opposite when it came to business.
Information vs. Integration
The truth is that most visionary CEOs don't need more information, they need more integration of their vision! I can tell you from experience, CEOs are not overwhelmed because of what they don't know, but rather because they have not used everything they already know to its greatest effectiveness.
CEOs, especially those who have been through all the development training, already have all the tools they need. Learning another tool reaches the law of diminishing returns. Learning to use your tools to their fullest, however, is when the true magic happens.
What if the solution to being overwhelmed was not learning how to do more but asking who can help me do this? As Dan Sullivan famously wrote in his book "Who Not How," the question that entrepreneurs should ask is not, "How can I do this?" but rather, "Who can help me do this?"
This is where your operations counterpart becomes so crucial. Finding the entrepreneurial yin to your yang — the person who can process your vision and physically put it into action — is the next step you need as a Visionary CEO who wants to achieve more.
What if you could find the person who perfectly complements your weaknesses and whose skills fit the needs of your business bottlenecks? This person, this counterpart to your CEO leadership, can fill the gaps in your company and help you achieve growth.
Conclusion
Leading a company is not easy. It's normal to feel overwhelmed or like you are not prepared to handle the next challenge on the horizon. That's called being human.
Trust me, I've been through the entire gamut, from the burnt-out Chief Everything Officer to an Unleashed CEO back on the vision quest.
With Unleashed’s help, you can finally get free from the day-to-day of your company. We help you do this using our four-step process to define, find, onboard and train your 2nd-In-Command, in order to unleash your leadership and business potential.
Why spend another bundle on CEO training when you can finally have a counterpart who will roll up their sleeves to help you achieve your vision? Let’s connect you to the right people to scale your business the right way. Contact us today to get started!
