Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity

by Frank Slootman

first reaffirm your commitment to the company and its mission. This signals that you have long‐term leadership potential and you're not a mercenary who will jump ship to the highest bidder. Do not be coy or talk about how many calls you've been getting from recruiters; everyone gets those calls. Be constructive, not entitled. The company doesn't owe you a promotion. Employment is a two‐way agreement; both sides need to be satisfied with the deal.

Regardless of the situation before you arrived, a non‐founder CEO needs to tread lightly at first. The hard part, at least for me, was slowing down my urge to change each culture immediately because I felt enormous pressure to solve problems. After all, the board would never have hired a new CEO unless there were significant issues to be dealt with. The challenge is getting your arms around those issues without throwing the founders under the bus.