In my previous company, we asked everyone to create a “Player’s Card”, with the top entry item being “What I do at this company.”
There’s a great power in succinctly defining what someone does at an organization in 3-4 bullet points, as a self exercise. Everyone comes in based on a job description. But things change over time, so it’s extremely helpful to keep one’s own updated JD, ie. what the heck do I do at this company? How am I adding value to the company while also professionally growing myself?
For my own Player’s Card as the CEO, I’ve always thought a CEO’s job was really three things — what I call MVP = Money, Vision, and People.
Money: As CEO your #1 job is to make sure the company doesn’t run out of money; you need to get money from investors or from customers (preferably the latter)
Vision: CEO is in a unique position to be able to define the vision and mission of the company; it’s also her job to make sure everyone in the organization understands and remembers the vision
People: Everyone knows CEO should be a mad recruiter of A players, but it’s important to remember that it’s also ultimately the CEO’s job to make sure everyone in the company is working in harmony — the culture, the system and processes, etc.
Early stage founders and CEOs don’t have a job description – they have to do everything. But it’s still useful to keep the “MVP” in mind, as a useful framework of thought and a guiding path.