The Real Job of a CEO
What I learned after five exits and scaling a public company
When you’re the CEO, it’s easy to get stuck in the weeds.
You say yes too often.
You solve problems that shouldn’t be yours.
And you spend more time reacting than building.
This frustrates every good leader because they find themselves in the zone of resentment.
What is the un-magical zone?
The Zone of Resentment
Where you end up doing work, that you know how to do, but you know you should not be doing.
That was me.
Until I asked one hard question:
If I lost my voice for 90 days, would the company still grow?
If the answer is no, you’re not the CEO. You’re the glue. And glue doesn’t scale.
Here’s what I learned after five exits and scaling a company on the NASDAQ:
There are only three things the CEO must own.
Everything else can be delegated. These can’t.
The CEO Job = 3 Things
Vision
People
Cash
Let’s break them down.
1. Vision: Tell the Same Story Until They Roll Their Eyes
If your team can’t describe what you’re building, they’re just reacting to tasks.
We grew one of our companies, Teles Properties, 10x in 5 years to $3.4 Billion and then sold it to Douglas Elliman (NYSE: DOUG)
At Teles, our entire roadmap came down to one phrase:
"Carmel to Coronado."
That was it.
Everyone knew what it meant. Everyone used it to filter decisions.
Try this:
Describe your entire company mission in one sentence.
Ask three people on your team to repeat it without help.
If they can’t, you’ve got work to do.
If you are looking for something special to happen, it’s supposed to be hard.
Block 15 minutes every Monday to repeat the story. But this doesn’t mean you read off the same cue card on every all-hands meeting. That’s lame. Rotate the mediums and the messages.
Use Slack.
Record a voice memo.
Write an email.
Make a selfie video.
Kick off the week with direction.
Your job isn’t to invent the vision every quarter.
Your job is to keep everyone aligned to the same one.
2. People: Coach the Behavior, Not Just the Role
Most people don’t fail because they’re incapable.
They fail because the rules are invisible and no one is coaching them.
Culture is a collection of behaviors.
At Real, we scaled from 6,800 to 28,000+ agents without bloated overhead.
That only worked because we got serious about behavior — not just talent.
Here’s how you can do that:
Write down 3 specific behaviors you want your team to repeat.
Now list 1 behavior you’ve been tolerating that’s slowing you down.
Bring that up at your next team meeting. Label it. Replace it.
The degree to which a person can grow is directly proportional to the amount of truth that they can accept about themselves without running away.
This week, pull one team member aside and ask:
What’s something you’re tolerating in your work that’s bugging you?
What’s something I’m doing that’s making your job harder?
The real CEO work is uncomfortable.
But that’s where the leverage is.
3. Cash: Use a Review/Preview System Every Friday
This is the habit that saved me.
At one point, I was running a $3 billion company and still had to float payroll with my personal credit card.
That’s how I learned that revenue doesn’t matter unless you control the cash.
We need to speak the language of money to make more of it.
So now I use a Review/Preview every Friday.
It’s simple, and it works.
Here’s how to run it:
Step 1: Review the past week
Ask:
What did we spend money on that didn’t produce leverage?
What surprised me on the P&L?
What pattern showed up more than once?
Step 2: Preview the next 2 weeks
Ask:
What upcoming decisions could impact cash?
Are there any expenses we’re committing to that feel off?
If revenue stopped today, how long could we last?
We don’t spend money to make money.
We spend money to learn, so that we can make money formulaically.
This isn’t about micromanaging finance.
It’s about staying sharp enough to call out blind spots before they cost you.
You Won’t Be Able to Do All Three Right Away
This is the ideal.
It’s where you’re headed, not where you start.
Start with the part that’s currently breaking:
If your team is lost, start with vision.
If you're answering too many questions, fix the behavior.
If you're anxious about cash, install Review/Preview this week.
This isn’t a checklist.
It’s how you keep the beat.
Because you’re not the lead singer of your business.
You’re the drummer.
Keep time. Hold rhythm.
And let the rest of the band follow you.
I wrote an an entire playbook on the elusive job of a CEO. You can download it for free, no email address required.
Oof, this is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you!