New CEO — count on what you are not

Eran Eyal
Eran Eyal
Jul 22, 2017 · 2 min read

Opportunity knocks on your door. You step through into a new role… and you can work yourself to the bone to show people who you are and prove yourself.

At least that’s what I used to think, until a friend drew me aside and told me something I will never forget. He said:

Eran, you (and what you create) are identified, and judged more often by what you are not, rather than what you seek to prove you are.

Think about it like in sales: Do you build a system to qualify or disqualify leads? Well — since 80% of your leads will be disqualified leads, why are you building a scalable system to qualify the leads? Build a system to deal with 80% of the problem and it acts like a sieve, draining out what you don’t want whilst effortlessly leaving behind the gold.

In the same way, one should establish who one is not. In this way not much effort is spent with people wasting your energy and time trying to take you down a path that is fundamentally incompatible to your core philosophy.

Recently I stepped into the CEO position at www.mypasso.com — the first thing I want to do is fundamentally separate myself from the context and legacy of what came before.

I wouldn’t be interested in being judged in the shadow of someone else’s legacy, good or bad. It will forever hang over me like a cloud if I am just casting another shadow as a legacy. Rather, I choose to step out of the shadow: To be the light, not another shadow.

Whilst this may sound like a simple philosophical argument, I see this as a fundamental component of being successful on my own terms. I want to set the pace and the form with my team.

There is a good reason why you need a nemesis or two in your career: They may well prove to be the very definition of your success if you are capable of using them as the tool that defines who you are.

Thanks to Joshua Earle for the usage of the core photo I altered. x

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