HireLabs Perspective: A Bad Case Of CEO-itis
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The key personality trait in this type of a CEO is over-confidence. If this was the CEOs first time receiving a large investment, it is only natural for euphoria to trigger in his personality, and a sudden aspiration of proclaiming himself as the next Larry Ellison kicks in. The only difference is that Larry made it, and this CEO did not. Once this CEO is able to attain a few wins and exceeds his 6-month targets, the personality trait of fiscal conservatism starts to wane, and the materialism trait emerges from everywhere. The large expense accounts and flashier cars appear, all of which are a justification given for past and future growth. It is unfortunate that during this crucial time of growth, the CEO starts missing out on critical KPIs related to quality and delivery, and the efficiency of the sales channel. Yes, growth is taking place, but is it sustainable, is there a risk analysis that is conducted? Sadly no one asks the question about how rapidly this CEO expects the market conditions to change, and if is there a plan to monetize on that change. After the first year, the business is on track, but a month shy of breaking even. The market conditioned changed slightly and an opportunity to sign a potential cash-cow client was missed because the sales strategy had not been tweaked. How could this have happened? Well let us suppose that this CEO had stronger type A personality than your regular CEOs, which when combined with the materialism trait leads to a lesser emphasis on the suggestions made by COO about delivery, and by the VP of Sales about distribution. If we were to suppose that this CEO did not have the type A personality, but still maintained the the materialism trait, then an alternative outcome from this dangerous cocktail of personality traits can be witnessed. The CEO may have listened too carefully to faulty information presented to him, and did not bother do his homework on assessing the pulse of the market. In either case after the 15th month the company is beginning to bootstrap, as the CEO continues to maintain his lifestyle through creative corporate accounting. Raising more money could be an option, but maybe it requires another CEO with a different set of personality traits. Do you remember that guy who got a HireLabs | Perspective he displayed rapid growth and claimed he was 12 months from breaking even? funding of $3million in his the series A round, he had an impressive business plan, Do you remember how he delivered his commitments during the first 6 months, which was followed by a series of losses? This situation is all too common, we have all seen this, but now instead of ignoring this situation, lets shed light on how this could happen, and what signs can we watch out for. HireLabs | Perspective A HireLabs Inc. research report August 2009 A bad case of CEO-itis Talent Series 2.0
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Do you remember that guy who got a funding of $3million in his series A? He had an impressive business plan, he displayed rapid growth and claimed he was 12 months from breaking even.Do you remember how he delivered his commitments during the first 6 months, which was followed by a series of losses?This situation is all too common, we have all seen this. But now, instead of ignoring this situation, lets shed light on how this could happen, and what signs need to be watched out for....
Transcript of HireLabs Perspective: A Bad Case Of CEO-itis
The key personality trait in this type of a CEO is over-confidence. If this was the CEOs first time receiving a largeinvestment, it is only natural for euphoria to trigger in his personality, and a sudden aspiration of proclaiming himselfas the next Larry Ellison kicks in. The only difference is that Larry made it, and this CEO did not.
Once this CEO is able to attain a few wins and exceeds his 6-month targets, the personality trait of fiscal conservatismstarts to wane, and the materialism trait emerges from everywhere. The large expense accounts and flashier carsappear, all of which are a justification given for past and future growth. It is unfortunate that during this crucial time ofgrowth, the CEO starts missing out on critical KPIs related to quality and delivery, and the efficiency of the saleschannel. Yes, growth is taking place, but is it sustainable, is there a risk analysis that is conducted? Sadly no one asksthe question about how rapidly this CEO expects the market conditionsto change, and if is there a plan to monetize on that change.
After the first year, the business is on track, but a month shy of breaking even. The market conditioned changedslightly and an opportunity to sign a potential cash-cow client was missed because the sales strategy had not beentweaked. How could this have happened?
Well let us suppose that this CEO had stronger type A personality than your regular CEOs, which when combined withthe materialism trait leads to a lesser emphasis on the suggestions made by COO about delivery, and by the VP ofSales about distribution.
If we were to suppose that this CEO did not have the type A personality, but still maintained the the materialism trait,then an alternative outcome from this dangerous cocktail of personality traits can be witnessed. The CEO may havelistened too carefully to faulty information presented to him, and did not bother do his homework on assessing thepulse of the market.
In either case after the 15th month the company is beginning to bootstrap, as the CEO continues to maintain hislifestyle through creative corporate accounting. Raising more money could be an option, but maybe it requires anotherCEO with a different set of personality traits.
Do you remember that guy who got a
HireLabs | Perspective
he displayed rapid growth and claimed he was 12 months from breaking even?funding of $3million in his the series A round, he had an impressive business plan,
Do you remember how he delivered his commitments during the first 6 months, which was followed by a series of losses?
This situation is all too common, we have all seen this, but now instead of ignoring this situation, lets shed light on how this could happen, and what signs can we watch out for.
HireLabs| PerspectiveA HireLabs Inc. research reportAugust 2009
A bad case of CEO-itis Talent Series 2.0
have been used in talent identification and at leadership development programs at organizations including
and government agencies that are looking for an integrated human resource solution to better manage their talent. Hisstrong background in operations and finance has earned him a seat on the Board of Directors of Medicove, IntelligentFilms, and HireLabs. Mr. Qureshi conducted research in cellular biology. His interests reside in using concepts of SixSigma in building intelligent systems to predict human behavior.
About HireLabs Inc.
Mr. Qureshi, a serial entrepreneur, devised a methodology of quantifying human behavior through a process of Six
About Saleem Qureshi
Sigma. He holds a number of patents in the quantification of human behavior. His techniques of pairing and matching
HireLabs is a talent assessment company that grew out of Stanford University. It has used it’s intellectual propertybuilt over the last 9 years and built a highly scalable technology which is currently provided as a S.a.a.S solutions forworkforce development.
All products/services names, providers, and solutions mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
www.hirelabs.com
HireLabs | Perspective
No portion of this document may be produced in any form without the prior written approval/permission of HireLabs Inc.
LeadershipDNA, where he served as Vice Chairman. He recently developed the ‘ iHR’ concept for institutional clients
Copyright © HireLabs Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.
