r/startups • u/sutipan • 1d ago
I will not promote CEOs/leaders, what’s the hardest part of your job that people don’t see? I will not promote
Hi all,
From the outside, being a CEO or senior leader looks pretty great. Big paychecks, influence, prestige. But I imagine there’s a very different reality behind the scenes.
If you’re (or have been) in that position, I’d love to know: what’s the hardest, most draining part of the job that outsiders don’t really understand? And if you could get one kind of support that would actually make it easier, what would it be?
Curious to hear your honest perspectives 🙏
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u/crossbeats 1d ago
I’m working probably 98% of the time I’m awake. Either literally working (hands on my computer or phone) or mentally thinking through next steps, next pitch, next problem, next week, next year.
It’s exhausting. I’m sick right now, 102 degree fever, and still spent ~12 hours a day for the last 3 days putting together a program for a client.
With employees, it’s all just…scarier. Now if I fail I’m not only screwing myself, but 4 households worth of people. The responsibility is immense.
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u/thetantalus 1d ago
I second this. I’m always thinking about work, about what’s next or how best to plan and strategize.
In good times, I enjoy it. In difficult times, it can be oppressive.
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u/csmikkels 1d ago
As a senior leader you don’t have as much flexibility as you think, you usually are following orders. And the worst thing is the constant politics
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u/Lifekeepslifeing 1d ago
You get to a point where you have to be both inviting yet selectively. Open-minded yet sure of yourself. Unless your social circles are similar you start losing some friends who don't understand the shift. As CEO you're around the money people more - customers, donors, etc. You are no longer a person, you are a brand. Your decisions carry consequences and accountability stops at you. Thats if you're good I guess. But there's a lot of ways to be CEO as there are different companies, sizes, strategies and leadership styles so....
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u/atropostr 1d ago
As a founder; managing every micro thing that never defined as a responsibility to someone in the company.
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u/SantiGM86 1d ago
I'd say: isolation. It's definitely the loneliest job. Everyone might be working "for you", but everyone also has their agenda, their needs, and they'll use the leverage they have on the company and you to get what they want or need, because you'll be ultimately responsible for the end result. With your stress and troubles you can't really go to your life partner (don't wanna be constantly stress dumping), other C levels shouldn't be freely let in on your stress and troubles because "agendas" (which is perfectly natural by the way), can't really explain everything to the therapist if you have one (because of the time it would take and ultimately, what the hell do they know?), can't really share with other CEOs (because of obvious reasons).
Just gotta strap up, get your game face on and remember the most important thing of all: no one's coming to save you.
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u/OVERCAPITALIZE 1d ago
I’d say never being able to act how you actually feel. Think the clients an asshole? Too bad, they your bills.
Think your team is being divas? Too bad. Have to keep them retained.
Think your partner is dropping the ball? Too bad. You need them to deliver your supplies.
Occasionally you come and be bad cop, but even then it’s an act.
You’re always performing and optimizing for outcomes.
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u/buzzspinner 1d ago
Raising money all the time and having people depend on you because they have families and bills.
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u/accountability_bot 1d ago
My FIL is a CEO at an electric provider. He is beyond exhausted and is quite looking forward to retirement in the next few years. It’s making tons of decisions, dealing with all the problems employees cause, but also keeping those same employees and the board happy. He’s on-call 24/7, and when storms blow through he sleeps in his office. He has to meet with local and state politicians when they start discussing anything in the industry. He’s constantly trying to keep prices low for members, and comes up with tons of ways to make it happen. He meets with large corporations when they want to build in his area and make sweetheart deals to incentivize them further.
He does get to take random days off and all sorts of other perks, but it’s honestly a super stressful job and I don’t envy him at all. I don’t think I’ve ever had a day with him where he didn’t have to dip out of what we’re doing and take a call or something.
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u/alexmrv 1d ago
Have you ever gone “this is not my job/problem?” or escalated an issue to your manager? Wonder where that shit ends up?
Now multiply that * everyone in your company has ever gone “yeah this is not my problem”.
As the person at the top you never get to say that, and every time someone does it lands in your plate in one way or another.
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u/UnoMaconheiro 1d ago
outsiders think it’s all perks and decisions but the constant pressure to be right is exhausting and invisible. knowing someone has your back without questioning your every choice would help a lot
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u/LoungeFlyZ 1d ago
You know how you have that one problem that’s either personal or work related?
Yeah, as a CEO you have to deal with everyone’s problems. No matter if they are work related or not.
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u/riverside_wos 1d ago
There is no off switch. Especially in small to mid sized companies.
When times are tough, you are often stuck between multiple terrible decisions that impact people you truly like/trust/respect. There is very little that is easy about this role.
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u/neuchatel1968 1d ago
At least at smaller companies, shit always flows to the top.
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u/AncientPC 1d ago
To elaborate, shit flows downhill but unresolved difficulties get escalated. That means the higher you are in the org chart, the more challenging stuff you have to deal with. Maybe it's growing revenue, cutting costs, expanding into new markets, solving conflicts, hiring, etc depending on role and company.
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u/SoSheSays28 1d ago
Honestly, it’s all a very fun game until you start adding FTEs. Each one is a whole life that depends on your personal drive/success. It’s a lot. It’s why I started therapy. Because no one in the org can ever sense that fear, or it all breaks down. Sounds dramatic, but it’s a heavy weight and one I never anticipated.
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u/kristanbullett 1d ago
For the past 3 months I spent way too much time dealing with HMRC (who owe me £100K) and customers (who owe me £500K) and ensuring we maintain cashflow to pay wages. I need to spend time winning customers but cannot do that because of the above. Once that problem goes away then there’ll be another big fire I need to put out. This is my life.
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u/incompl--te 13h ago
Making decisions. The first time I had to decide how much of the employees health care the company paid for hit me hard. What % of their insurance should they pay. What should the company pay? It impacts their pocket.
Decisions about individuals are easy to justify. Decisions about 100 people are different.
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u/futurebillionaire444 7h ago
The loneliness and the constant not being told what to do so you have to figure out what to do every single day and then you have to figure out how to do it and then you have to figure out how to deal with the problems you face while doing it while also managing 4 other critical things that are going on while also managing your employees
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u/runthepoint1 1d ago
It depends on the person. If you’re calm collected and have a strong sense of self and self respect then you can get it done. When you’re a jittery borderline ADHD can’t think straight with poor judgment, it will be hard. Depends on the person
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u/ProductGuy48 1d ago
The large number of difficult conversations you need to have constantly.