Hiring a CEO to Run Things (and Get Life Back)

I think I was told that we don't like when you're in Denver. We like when you're here. We feel supported when you're here.

You're really responsive when you're gone. Like, I. I. Because I was nervous, people would be upset. So I would always respond to a text or call, like, really quickly.

But I had never been super explicit about it. For a while. I had felt that tension whenever I do a day, a week in Denver and field attention. And I just. And let's just call out here, Jeremy, that this is kind of an unusual reaction, as I said, because, first of all, most people probably welcome the idea that the boss isn't there.

Yeah, I think most people like it when, when they don't feel like they have to, you know, just the boss is right over their shoulder. So it's interesting that everybody wants you to come up and just be present all the time.

Also, given that, you know, that first reaction from your day one speech where people are, you know, kind of like, who's this young whippersnapper who thinks that he's going to come in and tell us what to do, that they would then kind of want you to quote, support them by being present all the time.

Just, just kind of a counter, counter to what we would think would. No, I, I don't disagree at all and I think a few things there. One, I actually genuinely struggled throughout the process of feeling like had I had a boss who said, hey, I trust you, I'm not going to be here every day, I'm super available if you need me, I would have loved.

That's like my ideal boss. So.

Right. I think I very much struggle with the idea that that was not other people's ideal boss. And I do think, and I say this hopefully humbly, we got to the point and maybe it's just because of my people pleasing or I think I did prove to be a better leader than they expected at times, that they really liked me and they liked having me around, they liked me as a resource. They knew I didn't know…

They knew I was raising up people and managers to sort of build more of a system that was less dependent on me as the expert. And I think there was an extent to which like they genuinely liked me and wanted me around, which was both flattering and not the direction I was trying to move it for the sake of my wellbeing. Right. So, yeah, I mean, come January, February, so six, seven, eight months…

I'm going to bed really early because I'm getting up really early. My wife's a therapist with evening hours, so we're missing each other on the weekends. I want to do nothing because I just.

Every 10 hour day with a 3 hour drive turns into a 13 hour day and every 12 hour day turns into a 15. I was just really tired all while sales aren't going well. And somewhere along the way my wife was like, something needs to change.