"CEO"... SH*T

When I knocked on people’s doors asking them if I could wash their cars at 11 years old, I didn’t know I was running a car washing business and I didn’t care what my title was, I was just trying to make some money and it was good hard work.

The money I earned paid for a ticket to see the professional basketball team in my city and if me and my “business partner” (best mate) at the time worked really hard, we would have extra for a KFC after the game (Sometimes we didn’t quite make enough and mum would make up the difference).

When I started my first LLC at 26 all of sudden I changed my Instagram and LinkedIn profile to Entrepreneur, and for the last 5 years I think I am listed as CEO!

This week, 24 years later I am embarrassed to say, I had to google the definition of a CEO.

“The CEO of a corporation or company typically reports to the board of directors and is charged with maximizing the value of the business, which may include maximizing the share price, market share, revenues or another element”

I don’t have a board of Directors. I don’t know what the value of my business is. Share price? Market Share? Huh?

When I was playing and pursuing a professional basketball career, I used to get annoyed at all the self-titled “pro-athletes” who had never been paid to shoot a basketball. That is the definition of professional, the money. Posting your highlights dominating the church league doesn’t make you a professional. Agents and scouts can look at your profile on eurobasket.com and see that you have never played on a professional team. To anyone in the industry you just look stupid.

To real CEO’s and successful entrepreneurs, I look stupid. I am a business owner, with only 7 years of real business operations experience. If a huge company decided to hire me as CEO something is seriously wrong with that company, it’s a set up, and the FBI are about to come in and arrest me for whatever the last CEO was doing.

I currently work in the day to day operations of my business. It’s ok for me to aspire to become a CEO, but the best way to get there isn’t to “fake it until I make it”. It is to have some humility, ask for help from real CEO’s and learn what it means to become a real business leader.

I have the ambition to one day lead a professional sports franchise. To do that I have to learn how to become a real leader. I am no longer listed as CEO, but one day I will earn that title.

Email: Ant@ox.fit