CEOs Focus on Growth, not Execution

Thinking more about the Notes from Sales Training with Jack Daly, the one idea that really stood out to me is that CEOs focus on growth, not execution. Since A Startup is a Scalable Growth-Focused Company according to Paul Graham, CEOs are tasked with leading the charge. Generally, people think of the CEO as setting the mission, vision, and values, making the hard decisions, and communicating the message relentlessly. But growth? I’ve never heard of growth in the CEO’s job description.

In the entrepreneurial circles, there’s a popular saying that we often spend too much time working in the business, not on the business. In this case, working in the business implies doing day-to-day tasks that are readily accomplished by someone else. That is, too much time is spent on execution. Instead, working on the business implies more strategic topics whereby the entrepreneur or CEO is the best person for the job. Most often, especially in startups, the goal of working on the business is to figure out how to grow faster.

CEOs and entrepreneurs that understand the importance of working on the business, and not in it, are focused on growth. The most successful CEOs have growth in their job description.

What else? What are some more thoughts on CEOs as focused on growth and not execution?