Expansion-stage CEOs: Have You Found Your Second-in-Command?

Successful fast growth companies have a secret sauce: A problem solving, operationally focused second-in-command.

I am not going to beat around the bush: Being an expansion-stage CEO is incredibly hard. CEOs are busy, overworked, super-stressed, and lonely. OpenView’s founder and managing director Scott Maxwell has written a whole series of valuable blog posts on this topic, and gives a lot of great ideas that can help CEOs to cope with their unenviable positions.
One of the key suggestions is to build a strong management team to whom the CEO can delegate the execution of his strategy to. One key role is that of “Mr. Inside” — the internally-focused operations leader that can act as second-in-command and help hold down the fort while the CEO is out meeting with clients, building partnerships, raising funds from investors, and dealing with the external facing pressure of a successful startup.
More recently, this topic surfaced again in a great article on The New York Times‘ website titled, “The Unsung Heroes of Fast Growing Companies,” by Cliff Oxford. In this piece, Oxford mentioned his “unsung hero” — the No. 2 in his company — as someone who provides the stability, energy, consistency, and no less importantly, humor, for the fast growing organization.
Equally important is that the second-in-command does not have a big ego, is not involved in politicking, and does not present a threat to the CEO in any form or matter — they are truly the trusted second-in-command that every CEO needs to succeed in the fast growing phase.
Oxford also briefly touched upon how to find the right No. 2 — they are typically found within the organization, arising from the existing management talent within the company. However, to motivate this potential No. 2, the CEO needs to reward them with the right incentives: a significant stake in the company, responsibility, and, most importantly, the trust and confidence of the CEO.
I strongly recommend reading NY Times article, as well as OpenView’s other blog posts on this same topic.