You always wanted to be a CEO
Conquer the business world at any age.
Is this you? I’ve met many people in my career who told me they wanted to be a CEO but never did. Some felt they missed their chance, others never saw an opportunity to make it happen. Still others made up their own CEO title and printed business cards. (That doesn’t count)
The good news is that it’s not too late, ever. One thing Biden and Trump are showing us is that you can still be viable and relevant at 80 years old. There have been viable CEOs over 90 years old, like Armand Hammer.
It’s also never too early. Today we have viable 12 year olds as CEOs. It’s all changed with the internet and people feeling their self esteem much younger.
My career has been mostly about being/teaching/assessing/terminating/coaching CEOs. I’ve seen dozens of personality types, temperaments, a spectrum of ages and backgrounds succeed. Those aren’t the critical factors.
Most important if you wanted or still want to be a real CEO in the future is a sincerity of purpose and respect for the job. There is a genuine spirit as well as a big scientific component of CEO success; most people can conjure up both of those, learn both of those, if they really want it. Leading people is a unique skill and discipline and personal dedication. It requires love for a business and its people in balance. And it requires energy.
In my world of technology startups, CEOs tend to skew towards younger with technical backgrounds, CEOs (often self-appointed founder-engineers) who usually have less regard for the leadership part of the job. And we now have double and triple CEOs like Elon, who feel they can run multiple companies, something unheard of before Steve Jobs (Apple and Pixar).
So you haven’t missed your opportunity per se. As you get older it’s more difficult and requires a lot of learning later in life, but yes you can. Just start now.
To illustrate this, I let ChatGPT draw me a picture…
Follow Up 11-30-2024
Lots of great feedback on this little article from people. Many saw it as addressing ageism in the workplace, inability to find work, lifelong dreams, etc. It’s gratifying to foster conversations and allow people to share their feelings.