Is Wanting to be a CEO a “Stupid” Ambition?

 

The other day I came across this article in Insights Stanford Business (Link here), and was quite intrigued by the title: “CEO: Refocus Your Ambitions”, and especially the subtitle: Why the CEO role can be a “stupid ambition”.
 
Well, it certainly caught my interest, because the tag line of my business, Voice of Reason Consulting, is that “We turn business owners into CEO’s”, and I can’t imagine why becoming a CEO is a stupid ambition.
 
So, I read on to see if I could understand what Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever was trying to say. (Link here)
Bottom line I agree with Mr. Polman’s statements that “People’s self worth should not be measured by net worth” and that “You need to have something where you want to have an impact and that aligns with your values. It will drive your passion.”
 
However, I firmly believe that any business owner who is invested in their business and is intent on growing their business must focus on 3 basic tenets: systematizing the business; being deterministic about the business: and ultimately increasing the value of the business. I would never call this a “stupid ambition”.
 
I welcome your comments.