My First Week as a Young CEO: 3 Myths I’ve Uncovered

Or so, I thought. Even with Google these days, (pardon me, Alphabet Inc. I should say), these conceptions of the commercial world come in the form of myths rather than pure facts.

 

My misconceptions about the role of a CEO, the roles of various CXO's or Managers, employee expectations, volatile labour markets and the Recruitment industry were many, and my experiences, few.

 

So here are some serious, and some flippant, myths that I have discovered are unlike the skewed reality I had in my head on Day One:

 

 

Myth 1: CEO's sit in their office all day, every day

 

While this might hold truth for some, in fact, the variable nature of the Recruitment agency industry means that a CEO never has, as the old cliché goes, "the same day twice". Certainly not in my short first week, have I been planted entirely on my desk. I have travelled for branch visits, client meetings (more soon to come), shadowing different teams or Managers internally and contributing to conference calls. Quizzing CEO Mike Davies on a 'typical day' also generated some issues. Frankly, there wasn't quite one. 

 

Davies noted that general management and leadership might be pre-empting issues or resolving existing ones, forecasting the future of the business or planning on its growth. The nature of the role means that it can be hard to even have a scheduled routine. One thing I was perhaps not unsurprised to hear was in lots of ways, a CEO has a 'student mentality'. This means that a CEO never shuts off even when the day, or class, ends. It's a full time commitment that doesn't stick to full-time normal hours - that aspect of which I am unfortunately well aware of.

 

Myth 2: Why the Bottom Line doesn't mean what I thought it meant

 

Truth is, I'm used to using the term "the bottom line is this...". But I didn't expect to learn about this colloquial equally in the important financial sense. While Adecco Group and Adecco New Zealand are dedicated to an impressive CSP programme (I am walking talking proof of the Way to Work Programme tackling youth unemployment globally as 'CEO for 1 Month'), one steep learning curve that presents itself also in the social enterprise sector is how to marry social responsibility and generating profit. Both are important, one the means of the other, and the other arguably the reason for the means.

 

This is a critical challenge to get right in order to create a business plan that both addresses an important social need but also can be self-sustainable in the long term.

 

Myth 3: Working only with people your age is most productive

 

There is increasing trends to add to diversity within the workplace. And for good reason of course, because diversity makes for a great working environment.

 

But one aspect from a young-person's point of view is gaining the ability to collaborate and work with people outside of your peer age group. Blame it on the education system which groups by age or other similar cause, but I have found that I am able to learn from those much wiser than I, and hope that reverse teaching occurs based on my experiences as well. 

 

Interestingly, a UK-based Report by ADP noted that younger workers found it more difficult to work with their older counterparts than vice versa. On the contrary, 94% of older workers said they thought younger generations were armed with skills to be successful in their role compared to 16% of those aged between 16-34 who felt that older managers were out-dated with modern trends or resistant to changing technology.

 

Higher education does give you a feel for a workplace where you are no longer only working or learning beside those whom you were born in the same year with. But it doesn't give you exposure to the extent of the collaboration that is required within a workplace of all ages. Learning to navigate the different expectations and work styles within a diverse workplace has taught me a lot about how my perspective is unique but constructed.

 

These myths highlight the importance of managing multigenerational differences within the workplace.

 

I am a Gen Y product, apparently prone to jump from job to job, expecting flexible work schedules while Baby boomers favour the traditional 9 - 5 workday and are loyal to usually just one main employer.

 

Who knows, that could be a myth too.

 

- Anna Zam, CEO 1 Month Adecco New Zealand