Solving The ‘CEO Said’ Syndrome

Being a CEO is different from being a founder.

Not all CEOs are founders. But all founders have to learn how to become a CEO. You may learn it and decide you don’t like it. But none the less there is this progression in a startup lifecycle where it can no longer be run with a founder mentality.

One of the struggles you learn as a CEO is what I call the "CEO said" syndrome. As a founder it doesn’t make any sense. As a CEO it makes a lot of sense.

It goes like this…Someone comes up and asks if they can get your feedback on their work. You say yes and like any passionate human being you can’t help but immediately respond to what you see.

Without asking them what kind of feedback they need you start talking out loud…"Why is this like this?" "Why is this piece here or that piece there?" "Why aren’t we doing it like this or like that?"

Unintended, but a simple request for feedback becomes a mandate…oh the CEO (insert your name) didn’t like it and said we should do blah and blah. That isn’t actually what you said, but it’s too late now.

What you come to learn is that everything you say matters. If you like to make, this sucks. Your feedback as a maker gets weighted heavier in the creation process, which isn’t always good.

The Effect Of CEO Said

They won’t say this on the surface but your feedback has a ripple effect. The person who hears the feedback takes it to their team…"oh the CEO didn’t like that and thought we should…" This causes the rest of the team to now hesitate in their conviction.

Over time this practice compounds itself. It injects a small amount of doubt that weakens all future decisions that group of people will make. They will began to wonder…is the CEO just going to change my work in the end?"

It’s important to understand…

  • People weight what you say, no matter what it is.
  • People struggle to separate you the user from you the CEO.
  • The more feedback you provide the more often they come back. It creates a negative cycle where teams don’t learn to decide anything on their own.
  • They don’t always want your feedback. They are really just looking for approval that they are headed the right direction.
  • This is a really hard habit to break.

Tip 1 – Who Else Has Reviewed The Work?

If people are asking your opinion before interacting with their peers you have a problem. It means you are not building a team, instead you are building a dictatorship where approval from the boss is all that matters.

You want to correct this quickly otherwise they will not develop the peer network they need to go faster.

Tip 2 – Is It 30% or 90% Complete?

The type of feedback you give at 30% versus 90% is very different. But more importantly the reason you care about the answer to this question is because this provides direct feedback on how strong or weak your team process is.

If you see work that is 30% complete with foundational pieces that are in alignment with the company’s strategy then you are on the right track. If not, you need to re-address with the team how/why the foundation of the project is so off course.

If you see work that is 90% complete and tightly coupled to the company strategy then your team process is really working. If not, you have a deeper problem with your process, an immediate risk in derailing the project, and the opportunity to further weaken the future confidence of the team.

Tip 3 – Don’t Give Your Opinion.

When people ask for your feedback they aren’t really asking for your opinion. You may think this is the case, but they really aren’t.

This means the words "I think" should never leave your mouth as they get turned into, please do. Instead you want to talk through the problem with them to help them make a better decision.

You can do this by asking questions…"what problem are you trying to solve," "what decisions are you trying to resolve," or "what are you struggling with?" Or you can talk out loud to what you experience when looking at their work…"this confuses me," "I don’t understand this," or "I was surprised by this."

They key to this interaction is being able to create a dialogue without telling them how to solve the problem. As soon as you give a "suggestion" for how to solve the problem you have given your feedback.

It’s a very hard discipline to practice, but it’s a subtle difference to building a culture that learns how to make decisions.

Tip 4 – Use Briefs

What you care more about than the work they show you, is to understand how they got there. You want to understand what problem they are solving, how they measure success, and their approach to delivering on it.

A brief lets you understand that.

Page one of a brief is where you can provide the most value to ensure they are on track in solving a problem that stacks up to our goals. The actual execution is secondary to solving the right problem.

Tip 5 – Consistency Matters More

It’s hard to let the detail go. Sometimes they really matter, but what matters more is ensuring that your team is consistent. This consistency can show up in message or in their approach. Regardless what you are looking for in their work is that consistency. It’s a simple place to go when they ask for your opinion.

I learned this lesson when getting punched in the face by GoPro. To their credit they were incredibly consistent. The proved that consistency mattered then nailing the last 20% of the details.

Tip 6 – Explain Your Hats

It helps to say what hat you are wearing when you talk to your team. Sometimes your feedback is from the CEO and sometimes it’s from an every day customer. It’s important to clarify this for people. It might seem annoying but it does help.

If you have more questions send me an email or dm on twitter.

4 responses to “Solving The ‘CEO Said’ Syndrome”

  1. This advice is just as good for managers as CEOs. Keep the responsibility with the employees. Use questions to move projects forward instead of providing answers. Another interesting piece to this is the amount of ego involved. I think a lot of CEOs and managers feel more comfortable, important, and in control when they think they have all the answers and everyone is relying on them. But just like you are saying, this is very limiting as the CEO or manager becomes the gatekeeper. Thanks for the post Marc!

  2. Taylor Gould says:

    This was great Marc. I feel like I’ve read a few posts on this topic, and none come close to explaining the problem and solutions as well as your post. I think at BetterCloud we are on the tail end of the CEO transition for our founder (at 100 people!), but as a new manager now with a team of 16, I found the advice to respond with questions rather than answers really helpful. I’m thinking back to times when I’ve done one or the other and it’s easy to remember how effective the question strategy is.