CEO's searching for vision (2/3)

Part 2 of 3 (Part 1)

- Matt, look, three months ago, you said we should focus on new inbox and LinkedIn integration. - said Margaret looking at her notes. - I can not change priorities every three months. 

She was calm and professional, but the message was clear. 

I knew that she is right. 

That voice in my head accompanying me for months was right as well: 'I have to make the decision.'

I wanted to say 'this is the last time,' but I haven't. I decided to show it during the next few quarters. 

It all started a year before

I gathered a 10-people team with experienced PM. I wanted to delegate the brand repositioning and Woodpecker's strategy to our best people. 

We had meetings, slack channels, researches, subprojects, frameworks, ideas, and little progress. 

- What kind of customer should we focus on now? - asked Greg, Chief Customer Officer, and I knew that the answer should be obvious for everybody in the team. 

- Matt, our USP is vogue. What is our approach here? - asked Vovik, Head of Inbound sales. 

- Why do we promote this use case? - asked Ania, Head of Marketing. 

Every time the voice in my head was repeating, 'I have to make the decision.' 

Six months later

We were stuck. Many months of internal work haven't delivered what I expected - a clear strategy. We had tons of great ideas and researches, but still, something was missing. 

I decided to change the approach. We hired external consultants to help us finish the project. 

It helped a bit, but still, the voice in my head was like a broken record. 

The decision was difficult. I knew that we need a new strategy to accelerate growth but didn't want to destroy what is working. Woodpecker was doing ok.

I was involved in many day-to-day responsibilities and tasks. It helped me to procrastinate THE decision. 

One call that broke the vicious circle

- Man, you have to take a break. You can not figure out big strategy moves between meetings and tasks. - said Radek. He is a CEO at Bouncer and my friend since high school. - Take a long break. Log off the company Slack and email - do something else. 

I knew that Radek was right. I just wasn't able to articulate it. 

During the call, I finally accepted and understood that this is my responsibility. All the people around can help me, but the final decision is mine. 

It was Thursday, the middle of July. I gave myself 24 hours, and I called my co-founder Maciek the next day. 

- I need a long break - one month off. - I said and waited for Maciek's answer.

- When I heard long break, I thought that you thought about six months - Maciek chuckled - Sure, do it. I will take care of everything. 

First time in my adult life, I had such a long break from work. It was a smart move (Radek, thank you!) 

When I came back, I knew what I want

It was a time to roll the dice, but the next part wasn't as smooth as in Hollywood movies.

End of part 2 of 3. (Part 1)

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