Ep 287: The Risks You Face as a Young CEO

Sean: I'm wondering now, how young are you really? Are you like - I don't know, I have no idea. You look so young, but you have such an amazing experience already at work. Josef: So I'm 29. You know, so I got the job at Penn brothers when I was 20's, my board definitely didn't know that I was 26 that's for sure. But they didn't ask so I didn't lie, they just didn't ask, which is great. Which is different because here in the Philippines, you're allowed to ask, in the UK, you're not actually allowed to ask. Right? So they always have that going for me, yeah, in interviews you’re not actually allowed to ask that question. And I've been through this epic 180 when it comes to age in business and I'll explain why. I used to have the biggest chip on my shoulder. And I used to kind of go around with this. I'll even call it kind of obnoxious, but immature sense that I used to say at work - age is just a number. It means nothing like you can be CS you know, an MD, CEO at any age, which I still believe by the way that is still true, you really can because, you know. But I kind of always took it like a personal thing that I couldn't get CEO roles, because people were just like, who is this young kid basically? He needs to have more experience on the CV. And I always felt that that was unfair because it should be about, you know, ability and personality and attitude before actually doing that. I think you wrote a book on this subject, right? So I think for sure, you probably know about this way more than I do. And I wanted to break through that and I wanted to prove to people that you know, young leaders should be promoted and should actually have the opportunities, not just because there's an age on the paper, but because they're the best person for the job. Like that's the key, are they the right person for the job at the right time? But then actually funny enough, my last couple of years, and I'm sure this just comes when you mature and anyone who's younger and listening to this will probably hate me for saying this, but there is a lot in maturity right. There really is, and you always look back on yourself and say, what were you thinking? And the same here in five years, I'll look back on this interview and say, Joseph, what were those answers? For goodness sake. Because that's just the beauty of life, right? You do constantly evolve. Maturity just means that you just - you do get better. So you can become a CEO at 22. That's unbelievable. It's another level. You can become an MD at 26. It can be done. But at the same time, if there's someone who is older and trying to give you their wisdom and saying experience, I don't believe there's any need to look at that person and say, what are you talking about? I don't need experience. Because it has a huge amount of value. That's for sure. That was a long way to digress to your answer or your question of how old are you? Sean: And I completely agree with what you said, starting out young and having these major daunting responsibilities, such as being managing director and CEO at a young age, it doesn't help if your ego gets in the way. That's what I can say, for those of you who are young, driven, and have found some level of success, that is one major thing. You always have to push out of your way - your own ego. When people are giving you advice, listen, be hot iron and if the blacksmith strikes, you just make sure that you follow suit and learn from that. And yeah, I'm sure you have had a lot of mentoring moments. You're not going to get to where you are, if you're not open to other people's wisdom and learn from their mistakes, rather than just making your own. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/leadershipstack Join our community and ask questions here: from.sean.si/discord Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadershipstack