Rolph Balgobin serves as executive chairman of The Quicksilver Group, a company with subsidiaries in a range of industries, including manufacturing, energy, property and education. He is also the founder and chairman of The Oxbridge International School and formerly chaired the parliament’s Joint Select Committee on National Security. This article will look at the corporate world, providing an overview of the qualities necessary to successful transition from the role of founder to CEO.
Not every entrepreneur makes the leap from founder to CEO, with many stepping back from the top leadership role as the company takes off. To succeed as a founder-CEO demands an assortment of key competencies. To manage people and the organisation overall requires a particular mindset, including an aptitude for introspection, recognising their own strengths and weaknesses.
When deciding whether to take on the role of CEO, founders need to consider what they will get out of the position. Each founder builds their company around the premise of providing something that was lacking in the world, delivering innovative products or services that offer a solution to a real-world problem. Founders have an innate desire to build, transforming promising ideas into profitable businesses. To succeed, founder-CEOs must surround themselves with the right people, delegating tasks where their performance is weakest or they lack the natural passion that others may have rather than trying to handle everything themselves.
Business leaders must create structure and systems within their organisations to keep up employee morale and engagement. If the work is interesting, feels meaningful and they are working with great colleagues, employees are more inclined to work hard. However, a lack of structure and systems can detract from these positives, for example, where mundane and repetitive processes drain employees’ time, leaving them feeling demotivated and increasing the risk of burnout.
The CEO is responsible for the success of the company. The role involves developing strategies and deploying resources to help the business thrive and grow. The CEO has the potential to exert more influence over an organisation than any other person. However, maximising performance can be extremely difficult. Tasked with formulating the company’s strategies and marshalling teams to deliver on them, the CEO stands alone, typically accounting for 45% of the company’s overall performance, a report from McKinsey suggests. These days the role is more challenging and important than ever before, with industries transforming at an unprecedented pace and the onus on business leaders to respond to these changes with lightning-fast decision making.
Not every CEO succeeds. McKinsey suggests that just three out of five CEOs live up to performance expectations in their first 18 months in the job. Meanwhile, just one in 12 companies make the shift to become a top-quintile performer after a decade of operations. Nevertheless, even in changing times, some fundamentals of business leadership remain as pertinent as ever. Great leaders have grit, strong communication and problem-solving skills, and a relentless cadence of execution.
The ups and downs of entrepreneurship can be overwhelming at times, demanding reliance and resourcefulness and the ability to adapt quickly to rapidly evolving circumstances. Fledgling business leaders must learn to manage all kinds of people, delegating and giving feedback to employees. Finding mentors, hiring a coach and letting themselves learn from those they are managing are all important ways to grow. From day zero to greatness, founder CEOs come from a range of different backgrounds, but to be successful requires a collection of core traits and competencies. Key among those requisite leadership qualities are an unshakable will to win and unflagging curiosity, spurring them to try new ideas and innovate rather than merely maintaining the status quo.