There are some CEOs who, at the point in the CEO journey described in the previous pieces, don’t immediately move to fix things.
Not because they lack urgency, but because they sense that the moment might require something different.
Instead of acting quickly, they pause to look a little more carefully at what’s going on within themselves and within their business.
Rather than focusing only on what the business is doing, they begin to look at how it is being shaped: how decisions are actually being made, how things are prioritised and why, where energy in the business seems to flow, and where energy is stuck.
In making this shift, the CEO isn’t stepping away from the business. In fact, if anything, they are stepping further into it.
I’ve always said that very few people truly understand what makes a business tick, but at this point in the Hero’s Journey, these sorts of questions start to matter more. In fact, they become highly compelling.
From here, a few things tend to happen. The tone of conversations begins to change: more deliberate, more humble, more open to new ideas and approaches.
Less time is spent on reporting and managing outputs, and more time is spent trying to understand what sits behind them.
In such conversations, the questions become slightly different.
They become less about “What do we need to do?” and more about “What are we not seeing clearly?”.
This requires humility and wisdom – quite a different ‘gear’ for most CEOs.
Years ago, I read a book called ‘The Fifth Discipline’ by Peter Senge, and one phrase stuck out to me: a ‘learning organisation’. I’ll spare you the details of this view as it would require a longer explanation than this missive warrants, but I was immediately drawn to the idea of a business that is able to reflect on itself, adjust, learn from itself and make wise choices.
With these kinds of conversations happening, the energy of a business begins to shift. In places where things previously felt forced, there is often a sense of movement returning. Optimism. Vitality.
The business, while still operating in the same markets and with the same constraints, starts to feel different.
This is not the result of a new strategy or a change in structure. It’s the result of engaging with a different layer of the business. One that was always there and ready to be accessed, but that was probably ignored due to the relentless strain that businesses are able to impose upon people – and especially CEOs.
When this layer begins to come into view, much more becomes possible. It’s almost like a business ‘finds itself’ (a cliched term, I recognise, but this is actually what is happening).
The business is no longer just something to be managed. It becomes something that can be understood more deeply and shaped more deliberately.
And, in some cases, reimagined.
At this point, the prospect of building a Transcendent Business becomes possible. A business that is fuelled with a new energy, built and led differently, and ready to face the tricky world in which businesses now operate.
This is not a fast process, and it doesn’t always follow a clear sequence. But for CEOs who stay with it, it tends to open up a different kind of relationship with the business. One that is more like your business as a partner than a servant.
Most leaders don’t spend much time in this space because it requires a different kind of attention. One that goes against the manic busyness that most CEOs have normalised.
It requires a willingness not to move too quickly to answers. But when they do, even briefly, something starts to shift.
Something potentially profound.
In the final piece, I’ll bring this together — and outline what this journey can open up for a CEO and their business over time.