Reflecting on Leadership: Lessons from a Packed Week as CEO

While we have had an incredible 60% year-over-year growth in new customer ARR, leading STAEDEAN during this critical time isn’t without its challenges. As the final weeks of the calendar year approach, there’s an intensified focus on closing key deals, aligning teams, and ensuring we deliver value to our clients before the holiday slowdown.

This weekend, as part of my usual routine, I reflected on the past week to assess how I spent my time, the challenges I faced, and the opportunities for growth as a leader. This is normally the time when I write these articles with nuggets from my week. What I found this week was a mix of learning moments and renewed insights on leadership, particularly around balancing a hands-on approach with the principles of effective delegation and focus.

Here’s my insight from this week, along with some best practices I’ve come to rely on, even in busier times, though I was not quite able to apply them this past week.

The Challenge of Overcommitment

Last week was anything but ordinary. My calendar was packed with quite an amount of sales deal reviews, operational touchpoints, and unexpected "firefighting" meetings. While some of this is normal for a CEO, I noticed how the sheer number of tactical meetings left me with limited time for strategic focus.

What I learned: As CEOs, it’s easy to get pulled into the day-to-day operations, particularly when we care deeply about outcomes. However, trying to do everything isn’t sustainable, and it risks diluting the value of our contributions. Here, I appreciate Caprice Daniels most as she not only helps me manage my life but also is great at pushing back and reminding me of this key learning.

Best practice: Proactively block time for deep, uninterrupted work. Even during busy weeks, I normally set aside longer sessions daily for reflection, strategic planning, or forward-thinking initiatives. These are non-negotiable windows that allow me to focus on driving long-term growth.

Balancing Hands-On Leadership with Delegation

I’m a very commercial CEO, and during critical times like these, I make it a priority to actively support the team on our top opportunities. Last week, I spent significant time reviewing the most impactful client opportunities, helping align plans to ensure our clients meet their goals and, in turn, become more successful with us.

While this approach is effective for driving immediate results, it can create a bottleneck when too much depends on my direct involvement.

What I learned: Being hands-on is important, but it needs to be balanced with having the right team while empowering them. Trusting leaders to make and own decisions while providing guidance where necessary is a critical element of scaling a growing business. Make sure you get the right leaders in your team so this will work. However, sometimes, in transition periods, until you have your team fully in place, you may jump in, but that can have some opportunity costs. I appreciate having recently added Monika den Os-Baktai , our CMO, and Wolfgang Beeck , our CTO, to my executive team, which will help us drive greater growth. We are still making changes to our sales organization, which leaves a few gaps for us. This puts a lot of pressure on guys like Marcel Doppenberg , who runs our transformational team and needs to help our customers achieve their goals by delivering a lot on our side to help customers close deals this quarter. However, I am happy to see our sales team working closely together to fill our leadership gap and make things happen. Special thanks here to Jerry Caous and Harold Mulders for working closely with our AddOn business team to bring great insights from them into our Product Strategy sessions led by Michiel Toppers ' team. Our product team has come a long way under Michiel's leadership. I would also like to thank Deborah Sold -Salomon running our Employee Experience team, who did a lot of work in our recent changes but also is working hands-on with our teams to listen to our employees to help guide us as a management team to actions we must take.

Best practice: Use structured frameworks to identify where you, as a leader, add the most value. For instance:

• Focus your energy on the top 10% of opportunities or decisions that require your unique expertise.
• Delegate operational reviews or lower-priority tasks to capable team members.

This ensures that your leadership is felt in areas that matter most while the rest of the business continues to move forward smoothly.

The Reality of Firefighting

Last-minute issues are inevitable, and as CEO, you’re often the one called in to address the biggest challenges. Last week, I spent more time in reactive, unplanned meetings than I'd like. While these are necessary to an extent, they can disrupt the rhythm of planned, high-value activities.

What I learned: It’s critical to separate the urgent from the important. Firefighting can’t be avoided completely, but when it takes over your schedule, it leaves less time for proactive leadership. Here, I give a shoutout to Harald Werner , our CFO, and Jeff Roybal , our COO, for working extremely hard to put the right processes in place to minimize these challenges across the organization to help us achieve our goals. We have spent quite some time together as a management team these past weeks finalizing our 2025 plans to minimize this going forward.

Best practice: Build time buffers into your calendar for reactive tasks. Instead of letting them take over planned focus time, allocate specific periods for addressing unplanned issues. This helps contain disruptions and ensures you remain in control of your priorities.

Maintaining a Balanced Perspective

Despite last week's intensity, I still made time for personal commitments and wellness activities. For me, playing volleyball, attending a scouts meeting, or having a date night with my wife is more than just a break—it’s a chance to reset and recharge.

What I learned: Leadership is a marathon, not a sprint. No matter how busy the week gets, it’s essential to protect time for personal well-being. This not only sustains you but also sets an example for the team.

Best practice: Schedule personal activities with the same level of commitment as a high-priority meeting. These moments of balance fuel your ability to lead effectively.

Final Thoughts

While last week was intense, it provided a valuable reminder of the importance of intentional leadership. Every CEO faces weeks where the demands feel endless, but it’s in those moments that reflection and recalibration are most important.

The key takeaways from my week?

• Prioritize strategic focus time, even during busy periods.
• Balance hands-on involvement with delegation to empower your team.
• Build flexibility into your schedule to address unplanned challenges.
• Protect personal time to sustain energy and perspective.

This isn’t about perfection—no week is flawless. But by reflecting on what works and what doesn’t, we can continuously improve as leaders. Share your thoughts!

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