I have been the CEO of Commerce Media Tech since July 2021, but 2022 was my first full year of working in this position. Therefore, it was my first chance to go through all the stages of business management in a yearly cycle.
I’ll focus on three areas: My mindset – My team – My role.
Mindset.
Taking this role was a huge risk for me. It was literally going into the unknown. It was six months after we were bought, the current CEO left within one month, and I had ZERO connection with the new owners. No one knew what Codewise is or will be as in 2020, we were fully remote, and the old Codewise culture was heavily affected by that. Literally, only questions, zero answers.
The first six months I’ve spent getting to know people, processes, expectations, and possible challenges. There were immediately many fires to extinguish and decisions to be made that will influence the whole of 2022.
But this experience prepared me for 2022, and, well, I can’t say it was easier or less challenging (on the contrary!), but I felt much more comfortable in my position. This time I knew what to do and with whom. And I can say that I’ve finished 2022 as a CEO, not someone who is ‘trying it’.
Team.
You can’t manage a company without a proper team in place. It’s not possible for a CEO to work deeply on everything. CEO should understand to some extent all the areas, but you can’t be an expert in everything. I can go deep in different areas if necessary for a period of time and help, provide feedback, and guide. But when I have to do it, the main principle is to work on finding someone who will replace me, take full responsibility for it, and do it better than me. If you focus on details, you lose the broader picture, and that’s a problem as the CEO is the person responsible for paying attention to that. So, if you’re not doing that, then who?
That’s why the team is essential. To allow CEO focus on ‘more general stuff’. Strategy, high level projects, new intiatives, partnerships. But also have time to support your team when necessary. If your calendar is full end to end, how can someone get your help?
Last year I had to make changes in my team. On January 9th two new people will join our top management team, and I believe that it will strengthen the whole company a lot!
Role.
I’ve already written here a lot about the CEO role. But the situations and changes described above led me to be more active on the ‘front’ of Codewise. When I was managing Voluum I stayed behind a team that represented the product. It was ok, and it worked pretty well. Today, it’s not possible anymore. CEO is a much more exposed position, and I want to support my teams in promoting Codewise and our products Zeropark and Voluum. This is also one of the reasons why I’m writing this right now on Linkedin. I want to build a strong personal brand that will support what we do and hopefully detach Codewise from its colourful but not always positive past.
