If you are a first-time CEO, you have many strengths! You do the impossible, learn faster, get challenged and work hard. Go out and build a fantastic, scalable, sustainable business!

There are endless lists with mistakes that first-time CEOs make, but what are the strengths of being a first-time CEO? There is wisdom in the statement “She was an excellent leader. The only thing she lacked was inexperience.” Inexperience can be truly valuable.

1. They do impossible things. A first-time CEO doesn’t know what’s impossible so they will attempt things that are nearly impossible. This can produce huge upside. Every now and then they succeed and create value for shareholders and strength in the company beyond what anybody could expect.

2. They learn faster. First-time CEOs know they are first-time CEOs. They observe the world and they learn faster than the experienced ones. In a world that changes, you must learn all the time.

3. They get challenged. When you’re a first-time CEO, nobody really trusts or believes you, which is good. You face resistance from your own team. An experienced CEO may not be challenged by the team, because they respect the CEO so much. But when you’re a first-time CEO, you have to argue your case. That’s very healthy. The organization grows stronger and you learn faster.

4. They work harder. Many first-time CEO’s just work harder because they are first-time CEOs.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

There are endless lists with the mistakes that first-time CEOs make. You find them on the internet and in the public all over the place, but let’s focus on the strengths of being a first-time CEO.

There’s a statement full of wisdom that says, “She was an excellent leader. The only thing she lacked was inexperience.” This inexperience can be truly valuable.

First of all, a first-time CEO doesn’t know what’s impossible so he or she will attempt things that are nearly impossible, but that produces a huge upside and every now and then. They succeed and create value for shareholders and create strength in the company beyond what anybody could expect.

First-time CEOs also know they are first-time CEOs so they observe the world and they learn faster than the experienced ones.

Thirdly, when you’re a first-time CEO, nobody really believes you. That’s good. You face resistance from your own team. An experienced CEO may live in a situation where nobody’s really challenging him or her because they respect that person so much. But when you’re a first-time CEO you have to argue for your case and your point. That’s very healthy because the organization gets stronger and you learn faster.

Finally, many first-time CEO’s just work harder because they are first-time CEOs.

If you are one of them – if you are a first-time CEO – go out and build a fantastic, scalable, sustainable business!