Happy you just got offered that CTO role? It could ruin your career.

It could be a trap!

Here are the signs:

I have met so many first, second time and female (or other minority) CTOs have their careers ruined by a bad CTO role.

One female CTO was working in a company of 30,000 staff but didn’t go into the role with eyes wide open.

Same for a first time CTO who went into a startup without fully understanding the story of the company and why they needed him now.

Warning signs that this is a bad career move (at the offer stage):

Startups:

- They have not clear idea of what success looks like for the role

- There was a recent exodus of people

- They have no clear business strategy or idea how to reach product market fit.

Corporate / Enterprises:

- There is ambiguity about why the previous person left or how the role came about, there’s no history provided on the role

- They seem to make decisions based on relationships and feelings rather than data

- They are not upfront when discussing their offer about where/how they see you adding value considering the current situation of the department you will be leading.

What other bad signs have you seen before taking on a role or very early in that role?

If you are in the middle of a role offer right now, book a 25 min advice chat with me to make sure you understand what you are getting into. Look for the link in the Featured section on my profile.

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I help:

- CTOs become strategic business leaders

- aspiring CTOs transition to engineering leadership.

Comment to get a discount and be the first to find out about my upcoming online course series: “How to become a successful CTO in 1 year”.

#cto #reengineeringleadership #career