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In my first month as CEO, I sat down for lunch with a few customers. To say I learned some things is an understatement.
Those customers saw a lot of promise in our tech, which was working for their business. But by talking to them in person, we discovered some changes they could make to help them use the software to its full potential.
In other words, it was a moment that every new CEO lives for. As a brand-new CEO, you have a valuable window into the business — a chance to see things with fresh eyes and make real changes. But it doesn’t last forever.
I’ve recently experienced this firsthand. After a two-year hiatus, I was reappointed to the CEO position at the POS and payments platform I founded, tasked with putting it on the path to long-term, profitable growth.
My situation is unique as a returning founder, but the same basic principles apply to anyone who assumes a new CEO role. For those stepping into the job, here’s how to seize the “fresh eyes” moment.
Related: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving Organizational Alignment
Before you do anything, listen
During my time away from the CEO role, I worked in environmental conservation. And if there’s one thing I learned working alongside those who aim to solve complex global problems, it’s to listen first. Hear people out, gather information and collaborate on solutions.
The same goes for a new CEO, who must start by building trust. As a returning founder, I had an advantage in that department. Still, there are many new faces and voices since I stepped away.
So, how exactly should a new CEO listen?
Don’t go in with an agenda that predisposes you to tune out tough questions and concerns. Instead, emphasize that you want to hear them, whether it’s about what’s not working from a product or strategic direction or low employee engagement. People should perceive you as looking at the business with a critical eye, under no illusion that things are perfect.
For example, when Oscar Munoz took over struggling United Airlines in 2015, he began his successful turnaround with a cross-country listening tour, talking to mechanics, baggage handlers and flight attendants. I took a similar approach. Right away, we held a leadership offsite so I could spend time with each member of the executive team and talk to employees.
I also did customer visits in Australia and New Zealand, where I met folks who were the ideal profile for Lightspeed and listened carefully to the common threads that emerged.
I listened to board members and shareholders, too. Getting their outside perspective was valuable for understanding not only how the market perceived our business but also how we could continue to drive value in their eyes.
The temptation might be for a new CEO to storm in, guns a-blazing. But this initial listening phase is priceless. Across industries, companies are looking for CEOs and other executives with strong listening skills. And the upside can be dramatic. Organizations that listen to and act on employee feedback are three times more likely to meet or exceed financial goals and 10 times more likely to have high customer satisfaction and retention.
Remember, just telling people you’ll listen isn’t enough. The whole point is to hear from multiple perspectives and then work with your executive team to build a plan that brings rich solutions together. Then, you have a small and urgent window to take action.
Don’t miss your chance to act
For a new CEO, one of the biggest advantages is having a runway to redirect the business, and it’s important to show follow-through on that in the first 90 days.
I didn’t return to the CEO role to be popular. Yes, I can still be an empathetic, compassionate, caring leader. But ultimately, it’s a CEO’s job to be effective, not to be liked.
When a new leader is brought in to transform a company, it’s essential to live up to that responsibility, even if it sometimes means doing unpopular things. Listening has to be a prelude to action, or else it’s an empty gesture.
After taking over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, Satya Nadella saved the tech giant from irrelevance by quickly shifting focus away from software sales to cloud services. Thanks to that and other dramatic changes, Microsoft became one of the world’s most valuable companies.
Sometimes, this requires throwing out certain long-held company traditions and practices. Before I returned, one of our annual traditions was a sales summit that flew people to our HQ from all over the world. We adjusted the format — making it virtual — and created a ton of operational efficiencies in the process.
Getting everyone together made financial and business sense back in the day when the summit drew a couple of hundred people and helped us build our culture. But I could no longer justify such a big expense if it didn’t benefit customers directly.
Studies show that when a new CEO makes changes early, they can have a compounding effect on the business. What happens in the first 90 days or so sets the stage for the company’s trajectory over the next three to five years.
And people expect their leader to take action. For employees, decisiveness is one of the top three qualities of effective leadership, a global survey found, with CEOs described as “decisive” 12 times more likely to be high-performing.
Related: How to Align Business and Customer Interests for Long-Term Success
How to know when it all comes together
Of course, none of this is easy to pull off. A new CEO’s early days are full of potential pitfalls.
For starters, their arrival can be destabilizing for team members. People have different levels of tolerance for change. Especially when such changes are significant, it’s important to show empathy by acknowledging that they might not be easy.
A new leader should also respect the achievements of those who helped build the company. Here, a little humility goes a long way. I’m grateful for the difficult work my predecessor did. After all, he set us up for future success by making tough operational changes.
Ultimately, seizing the “fresh eyes” moment as CEO is about mastering the balance between appreciating what made the company great and making the necessary changes.
How do you know when you’ve got it right?
When people say they feel aligned with the business — and when you feel aligned, too. That doesn’t mean there’s complete agreement. But after seeing each other’s point of view, everyone is on board with a plan to move things forward. There’s energy and excitement to push in a new direction. And there’s a sense that this builds off the input and hard work that came before.
Getting all this right requires a new leader to make the most of their fresh eyes moment: taking the time to listen first, then acting sooner rather than later.
