at some point he d want to hire someone else to run it. i don t want to be my own ceo. and i know my own people don t want me to be their ceo. our boat got to be so big that my captain s license didn t work with that ton boat. the founder of the maker of eco-friendly pet products wanted to hand off day-to-day control of the business. he was looking for a leader who could spur growth while remaining true to the original mission. planet dog just wanted to deliver a product line that was well considered. maybe it had a little boutiquey feel to it. but it was a collar that you would want on your dog. that s how nice that s supposed to be. and the same went with our beds. the same goes with our bouncy toys. when alex started looking around for a new ceo he met a lot of great people. but, he didn t meet anyone that was the perfect fit. i could easily find a person
trust wasn t there, it s really debilitating. and it almost, to me, feels like a dog leashed to a tree. colleen agreed with alex s plan. she thought it was better for everyone to get to know each other. it s a little different to come in, you know, here s our new ceo, versus here s someone who s going to help us on this project that we re working on. and so i think it was a really good opportunity for the company to meet me, and me also to meet the company. alex realized pretty quickly that colleen was the right person for the job. she was asking good questions, and already thinking about solutions to some of planet dog s woes. she was a great listener. it seemed that she was willing to not guess or presume. she took plenty of time to learn about the direction it needs to go before she even decided to change any direction. and when colleen became the ceo, she thought it was critical to stop herself from moving too quickly.
i do believe that the first role of any ceo is to observe. you never act initially. you really have to give some thought to observing, and talking to people, and learning more about the founder. she set the tone by rallying employees, and coming up with goals. there were a lot of things that people were working on. but not necessarily all working together towards a common goal. to be honest, it was almost a little bit of a sigh of relief for the employees, because they weren t really sure what the priorities were. and alex did his part by stepping back, so colleen could drive the company forward. i ve learned in the four years that i ve been with planet dog when to consult with alex, and when do i think he s going to be okay with allowing that to go in a different way. as the ceo i do get to make the final call. what made the last four years easier is that colleen has alex s ear, and the faith of her team. alex underestimates the role that he s played in really standing o
inevitable. when he launched the company, planet dog in 1997, he knew that at some point he d want to hire someone else to run it. i don t want to be my own ceo, and i know my own people don t want me to be their ceo. our vote got to be so big, my contract license did not work. the founder of eco-friendly pet products wanted to hand off control of the business. he was looking for a leader who could spur growth while remaining true to the original mission. planet dog just wanted to deliver a product line that was well-considered. maybe a little boutique feel, but it was a collar you would want on your dog. that s how nice that s supposed be, and same went with the beds and bouncy toys. when alex looked around for a new ceo, he met a lot of great people, but he did not meet anyone that was the perfect fit. i could easily find a person that was very good at one, two, or three things, but the reality
quickly. i do believe that the first role of any ceo is to observe. you never act initially. you really have to give some thought to observing and talking to people and learning more about the founder. she sets the tone by rallying employees and coming up with goals. there were a lot of things that people were working on, but not necessarily all working together towards common goal. to be honest, it was a little bit of a sigh of relief for the employees because they were not really sure what the priorities were. alex did his part by stepping back so colleen could drive the company forward. i ve learned in the four years i ve been with planet dog when to consult with alex and when do i think he s going to be okay with allowing that to go in a different way. as the ceo, i get to make the final call. what s made the last four years easier is that colleen has alex s ear and the faith of her team. alex underestimates the role he s played in really standing on the sidelines and