Accidental GovCon CEO
Editors Note: This page was updated 12/27/2022.
What’s an accidental GovCon CEO? Are you one?
You may or may not know the type. They’ve spun out of government or a large integrator and had a good consulting gig as a 1099. They are well connected with their customer (they used to be colleagues) and they deliver. Since they can deliver, they are asked for additional resources. They, in turn, hire their trusted network. Within a few years, they’ve built a 10-20 person show churning $2-10M.
Everything is sunshine for a bit. The GovCon SME/CEO is still billable, doing what they love.
Inevitably, the business side of the business rears up. The SME finds themselves running a company of highly technical folks, spending most of their time on administrative tasks – cash flow projections, recruiting, contracts, minutia. They spend less time on customer delivery and more on the day-to-day running of the company. Their customer becomes frustrated as the SME can’t deliver the same level of service. The employees become frustrated as their trusted colleague is always busy with other tasks and is often unavailable.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the SME-turned-GovCon-CEO wakes up wondering how things got to this state. They hate their day-to-day life. They hate not delivering to the customer and find themselves questioning why they are running a company, the victim of becoming an accidental GovCon CEO.
If this sounds like you, let me be the first to tell you the following:
- You are not alone, by a long shot
- It’s not uncommon at all
- You need to decide on your path forward before you completely lose it
There are several options that can move you out of this state, but before you can move forward, you have to take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what you want out of your career and what success looks like to you. For some, it’s a dollar figure in their checking account. For others, it’s flexibility in working on high-value work. Still for others, it’s in cultivating a culture that they want. Regardless of the answer, knowing your definition of success can help guide your path.
Admittedly this is a difficult step to take (aren’t all first steps that way?). Luckily you don’t have to go it alone. BOOST has the resources, personnel, and experience to help guide you through this process. Whether it be executive coaching in the form of mentoring or strategic planning from a whole-business perspective, BOOST can help. Let’s sit down over coffee and discuss your next steps. [email protected]
