One of the things you learn as the business grows is that the “role of a CEO” can get more and more routine and even boring - it’s like I mentioned yesterday, you start to become more of a robotic manager. There are certain things that you may personally love doing that you slowly have to part with because you just don’t have the time and you have to hand those responsibilities over to others…

For my specific example, I absolutely LOVE selling. Selling is a drug for me, it makes me feel high. My adrenaline gets pumping, I can’t sleep…

I love the “win” feeling you get when you close someone or when you convince them to buy from you - something about it. I’m not sure if it’s the feeling of power or just excitement and a sense of pride. This may sound or seem a bit “vicious” but here is how I feel after a good sale (btw, I really am a nice person

(Before Clipart.com sues me, this is THEIR poster and I already bought one for my office…to buy it go here…)

The poster says First Round, First Minute - look at Ali’s face, doesn’t that excite you! That’s the kind of rush I get when I close a sale. Unfortunately though as the business grows and I’ve had to start getting involved in other areas (more management and legal related), I’ve had to pass on the selling responsibility to a very capable and well networked VP of Marketing we brought on.

I do miss it though. A lot.

My solution? At least at the size my business is right now, I feel I can still take some time to get involved with sales. Maybe I don’t do it ALL - but I can still do some! So, as of yesterday, I started sending out more e-mails and I already lined up a big company who we’ll finish the conversation with tomorrow.

My advice to CEOs - No matter what it takes, keep your hands at least a little bit on the part of the job you love(d) the most. Otherwise, being a CEO can really get freaking boring.

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