Total Responsibility

People are curious. Hell, I’m curious:  What's changed for me over the past few months being CEO vs. being CFO?

Well, I’m funnier, more interesting, and probably better looking. People want to talk to me! Because who wants to chat with the CFO? Kidding.

On a serious note, probably the number one thing I’ve noticed is that I'm responsible for the downside of many things that aren’t in my control or honestly, that I don't even fully understand. 

For example, we had a massive product launch recently. It was harrowing; the feeling of being totally responsible for the results. And obviously, by that, I mean the downside. I need to trust everything goes right because when it doesn’t, it’s my fault.

And when you’re not deep in the weeds - enough to understand how every piece works - and let's be honest, you can’t know everything - you need to trust the team. 

Not to be dramatic, but the feeling isn’t different from being a leader in the military. Ultimately, you’re in a position that puts people’s lives in danger while you wait in the center, hoping a tactical or strategic initiative works. And it’s your responsibility if things go wrong. 

Yet, you can’t do the team's job for them, micromanaging every detail. You need to trust that you picked the right people for the job at hand. It’s the downside of leadership. You are responsible for everyone under your command, and ultimately accountable for their actions.

The team managing our launch has been doing work for months. As you can imagine, a significant percentage of the company has been involved.

It was D minus 1, and I found myself at the pre-launch go/no-go meeting. It was surreal. The lead PM tells me, “We’ve done this, and we’ve done that,” basically checked all the boxes. But then he says, “Should we launch?”

There it is. Those three simple words: “Should. We. Launch?” is my newfound responsibility in a nutshell. TOTAL responsibility. 

Did he know we should launch? Of course, he did. He was ready. What that question meant was, “Do you support the launch, and ultimately, will you fall on the sword if it fails?” 

What did I say? “Hell yeah!” …and then I thought, ‘Shit! What have I just done?’ 

It’s the way it goes. I set up the system, but the decision is still theirs. If there’s a mistake, then it’s still on me. But I’m not worried. We have a great team (and that wasn't luck) that was by design.