How to be a 1st time CEO with Peter Lehrman – Part 1

Today we are talking to Peter Lehrman the Founder and CEO of Axial. Axial helps companies plan, grow, or exit by connecting business owners to buyers, leaders, investors, and advisors.

Peter is an incredible first time CEO. Even though his journey is and will continue to be difficult, he really believes in his company. He believes in the vision and purpose that they are serving. In this episode, Peter is introspective and transparent about the struggles of being a CEO. He believes that leaders need to have people to confide in that they can trust. Today we talk about the hard lessons learned while being an effective, decisive, and yet empowering leader.

Today’s Topics Include:

• Finding people that a CEO can trust and confide in.
• The difficulty of starting a company, and how the difficulty increases as the business grows. The air gets thinner at the top.
• If you are only doing this for money, it is not sustainable. You really need to believe in what the company does.
• Knowing when to flex the different aspects of leadership and knowing when to stay out of the way.
• The difficult part about being at the top. You are the decision maker, but there is no one you can call who will have the answer.
• Having a coach you can consult with on the true issues really helps.
• Trusting your instincts and knowing how to communicate those instincts.

More of Kirk Dando’s Leadership Podcast.