What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you talk about a CEO? An inspiring leader with a unique style. The one-man who built a legacy. And his earnings per hour runs with never-ending zeros.
Okay! That’s the positive side. What about the other side of the coin?
With this fast-paced digital era, CEOs are a dime a dozen. But finding a great CEO is always like a needle in the haystack. Besides setting up the vision and mission of the company, the CEO takes responsibility for many other things to make the business last longer.

These responsibilities may affect them from internally or externally, sometimes both combined. More often, the external factors are indeed hard because their control is not under the hands of CEOs. Despite any industry, these managers across the board share the same or similar concerns.
Here is what CEOs of influential organizations say about the hardships of being a Modern CEO today and the healthier ways to thrive from it.

Being a CEO is a thankless job

[tweetshare tweet=”“There are more scars than trophies.” – Christopher Justice, CMO Magnolia International” username=”agiratech”]
It takes a lot of courage to motivate yourself, your employees and the partners despite the financial obstacles and also ensure the integrity of the business. Beyond being thankless, you need to be selfless to share the praise and accept all errors in the work.

A million things are there to try

[tweetshare tweet=”“You have to wear many hats and figure out which ones to try on.” – Lauren Kay, Founder of Dating Ring” username=”agiratech”]
Being a CEO, most of the time moves on by trying out a million different things to find the right one that is worth spending time. The biggest CEO challenge is that you might need to experiment on a new role every month. Then, figure out if that is crucial for the company and structure the role so that it can be handed off to another member of the company. And look for a new hat to try on.

CEO always keep weighing the risk

[tweetshare tweet=”“You have to be able to make big decisions and take heavy risks.” – Usman Majeed, Founder @TechTwurl and @Protection” username=”agiratech”]
Firstly, one cannot be a CEO without taking risks. It is the main factor that defines his position. In this responsibility, you work to build relationships with larger clients. So, you need to take some bold risks which may involve a high capital requirement to partner with them. CEO needs to balance risk and evaluate decisions continuously to take the right step ahead. Here is where the ultimate pain point of a CEO is present.

CEOs day is a hard book to read

[tweetshare tweet=”“It’s unpredictable.” – Justin Spratt, CEO of Web tech incubator ” username=”agiratech”]
Every CEO is different for a company, and it varies from person to person for the same company itself. Every day is unique with new opportunities and risks. So, one cannot predict a day in CEO’s life. There is no universal code that every leader can follow for a given company or industry. One cannot be trained to be a CEO or become one.

Final decisions fall on CEOs head

[tweetshare tweet=”“You need to learn how to make as few decisions as possible.” – Auren Hoffman, former CEO of LiveRamp” username=”agiratech”]
Great CEOs distribute most of the company’s decisions to other people in the organization. So, the decisions should never be in a bottleneck, waiting for him. The CEO’s time got to be free that the leader can focus on the most important decisions because he is the one who can grow the organization by adding trustworthy people to it.

Convincing everyone is CEO’s hardest challenge

[tweetshare tweet=”“You need to earn the respect of your employees.” – Richard Russell, CEO of Missouri Trust & Investment company” username=”agiratech”]
It might be a company with 30 employees or 30,000 employees. Each one has an opinion on what the CEO should do in any situation. Listen to them. But then, you take the sole decision. Now, you got to convince them to follow it in such a way that they convince their teams.

CEOs make sure that there’s money in the bank

[tweetshare tweet=”“You need to keep tabs on your budget and spending.” – Rob Hill, Dolphin speech therapist” username=”agiratech”]CEOs make sure that there’s money in the bank that is enough to provide a runway to execute the company’s vision. Not every other people can do this.

CEO needs to understand and lead his tribe

[tweetshare tweet=”“You need to set the right work culture.” – Shelley Steigerwald, Co-founder of streetparkd” username=”agiratech”]
The CEO leads their executives, employees and partners toward a healthy culture. Moreover, it is the quite hardest thing to manage when it comes to business.

CEO should able to sell the vision

[tweetshare tweet=”“You need to be a great salesperson.” – Derek Hutson, CEO of Datical” username=”agiratech”]
Firstly, you need to know how to sell a product before you become a CEO. You may say that is the work of a salesperson. But what’s your role is to sell the company’s vision before you sell your product to investors/acquirers. You can’t be a CEO if you can’t articulate what your business, service, or product is about. Some people wanted to invest in impressively smart people above the business forefront.

The CEO decisions shouldn’t violate the goals

[tweetshare tweet=”“You need to design and implement communication architecture for your company.”- Ben Horowitz, CEO of Opsware” username=”agiratech”]
It is the CEO’s responsibility to bring information together from every expert’s point of view in the meeting room and to solve problems that help in achieving the company’s goals and objectives. And ensure if the solution is feasible without compromising any of the core beliefs.

Everyone expects an answer everywhere

[tweetshare tweet=”“You have to be technically savvy.” – Altamash Jiwani” username=”agiratech”]
A CEO needs to always carry a valid answer for everyone he meets in day-to-day life. It may be an employee, investor or even from the press. So, it is important for a CEO to understand technical issues related to the product and excel at it by providing viable solutions. Most of the successful CEOs are tech-savvy like p&g CEO.
CEOs are the root of the company from where the inspiration, motivation and, most importantly, trust flows through the whole tree. So, you got to be strong and immovable against any storm in the business forefront and lead your tribe.
Read more motivational CEO related blogs like The CEO’s Checklist: What It Takes To Be A Successful CEO.