What are flaws that usually young CEOs have?

With 1.3 billion people with average age of 29, India is one of the youngest country in the world. This means a lot of young people are taking up new leadership positions.

Well, with power and responsibilities, CEO is definitely not the end of the road, especially for young CEOs. So, What are that usually flaws young CEOs have?

First of all, who are young CEOs and their age-groups?

Young CEOs can be start-up owners/entrepreneurs who can be as young as 16 years old.

At the same time, young CEOs can be professionals who have reached the position by climbing the corporate ladder in which case even a 30 year old can be identified as a young CEO.

So, given the two types of young CEOs, it is clear that from people in their teenage to 20s and 30s are known as young CEOs. And with that description, we can identify the traits of a young CEO and the flaws they have.

Flaws of Young CEOs

Here you go:

Inability to Balance Emotions & Work

For a young CEO, passion can be everything. Hence, when they strongly believe towards something, it can backfire if the emotions or a certain mindset overpowers the company’s growth in the future. This art comes with time, right mentorship, and willingness to change.

Also, expectations like an unaltered work-life balance as you grow in your professional life can be driven by emotions. Young CEOs usually are unable to strictly analyse their life based on the new responsibilities.

Lack of Clarity & Long-Term Vision:

A key part of the CEO’s definition is someone who forms and achieves the long-term goals of a brand as a team. But most CEOs who grab the opportunities as a young entrepreneur have limited scope.

Young CEOs are often unable to prioritize the short and long term vision of the brands they are leading.

Lack of Relevant Skills:

Young CEOs have a lot of time to explore new opportunities and even correct their wrongs. But on the other hand, they do not have the years of experience needed to build and shape the leadership, networking, communication, and other skills which are core to being a successful CEO.

Your job as a CEO is to bring smart people together to solve hard problems seamlessly. Hence, rather than being a one-man or one-woman show contributing to the entire business, your biggest responsibility is facilitation for your team to work together.

Unwillingness To Invest in Personal Development:

Indeed, one cannot do much they are young CEOs without experience and loaded with the work as a young CEO. Finding time to invest in personal and professional development can be a task but it is what you have signed up for.

Get hands-on with your development goals, be it grabbing a knowledge about the different fundamental operations at the firm or team building. CEO is not a position to rest on, it is where the journey begins to more learning and growth.

Continuous Employee Development:

While employee trainings are given importance during hires, as a young CEO, you should never ignore the value of keeping your employees informed and well-trained to the changes in the industry.

The inability to communicate the ideas you have with your team and expecting them to be updated can become a challenge for a young CEO.

Finding the Leadership Style:

Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Zukerberg have their unique leadership styles. Innovation, transformation, and task-oriented leaders like them have achieved great fortunes by staying true to their leadership style and values.

As we mentioned before, CEOs are also humans. A good CEO or good leader is someone who is able to find and work seamlessly with his team. From delegating challenging tasks to reviewing their work, and building the team, find the right leadership style is crucial for CEOs and a flaw young CEOs have.

In a Nutshell, A long Way to Go

Young CEOs can overcome these flaws as mostly they are able to adapt to new environments and situations.

While skills like time management can be learnt in these upcoming years, one has to make sure they are keeping their minds and ears open to what there mentors tell them.

As a young business leader, this is an exciting chapter that can unfold how your professional future will be in the upcoming years. Embrace the journey, set realistic expectations from yourself, make sure you always continue to learn!