5 things that I would like someone to tell me before I stayed CEO

From the outside, the CEO will look like reaching the top of the mountain – the last, triumphant chapter after a long climbing. But here is a real story: this is not the end. This is a recent starting. One filled with curves, late night worries and more lessons than any business school could ever push the curriculum.

As the general director of Belor, the world’s largest company dealing in the real estate, I had an amazing privilege (and, to be honest, intense alleged pressure) to help in the development of our team from 19 people to over 13,000 worldwide. This journey taught me a lot – about leadership, about people and what really means wearing the weight of the word “CEO”.

So, if you enter leadership (or dream about the day you do), here are five things that I would like someone to pull me aside and said earlier:

1. River pressure never disappears – and this is not a bad thing

When your selections affect others, the pressure does not take one day. What surprised me the most? How is it personal. Being a leader is not only a strategy; It’s about the heart. It’s about deep care. Sometimes too deep. DDI reports it One on six leaders Feel burned out in 2025. Deloitte test It was found that 41% of the management have high stress and 36% are completely exhausted.

This is the truth: Pressure has a job. And when I stopped avoiding him, I learned to wear it like a badge of honor. This pressure builds immunity. This justifies you. It reminds you that your work matters. If you are looking for comfort, leadership will not be your path. But if you are looking for meaning? Pressure will be your compass.

2. The journey is more essential than the destination

When I began, I had my eyes closed on the next big guy: promotion, win, title. I was so focused on climbing the ladder that I almost missed what was happening on the ladder.

Leadership is not a finish line. It is a journey, along with PIT stops, picturesque detours and will occasionally pierce the tire. The best leaders I know are not obsessed with arrival; They are chosen for a ride. There is a reason why the front windshield is wider than backward mirrors. Sure, we glance, but we are moving forward. Every challenge, every small victory, every difficult lesson is shaped by who we grow to be.

So if you are feeling behind you or you are unsure, remember: it’s finished. Come on. Move. Be the general director of your personal life – a cheerleader, an enthusiast and optimist who sees potential, even on difficult days.

3. Keep it and not only deciding

I will always remember my time Undercover Boss. Working with our team with our team-cleaning, lifting, listening-the way I think about leadership. It wasn’t just opening eyes. It was open.

We do not print titles on our business cards in Belfora. Why? Because when someone needs help, it doesn’t matter what your title is. It matters what you do. True leadership is not about barking orders from the corner office. It’s about appearing. Connecting sleeves. Listening twice as much as you say (there is a reason why we have two ears and one lips). And doing … leading an example!

(*5*)Harvard Business Review This supports: leaders who adapt actions to words build trust. And I will add it – in addition they build a family. Everyone in your team has history. Fight. Spark. When you lead with trust, compassion and listening, you illuminate the path so that others can lead.

4. Trust is your strongest tool

CEO life will be overwhelming. Here’s the line of life: you do not have to do it yourself.

Some of my best decisions began with someone’s idea. This is the strength of trust. When you suspect in your team and show him, you’ll unlock something unusual. Delegation does not hand over control. It’s sharing faith. He will inform people: “I understand what you can do. Go for it.”

Culture built on trust creates a wave effect: greater commitment, more properties, more magic. When your team feels trusted, they arise – not only for the opportunity, but outside of it. One person can change something. Sometimes this one person is the one you authorized.

5. Vulnerability is not a weakness – it is strength

Somewhere along the line we took the idea that strong leaders are hard, quiet, unwavering. I say it with all my heart: let go. The strongest moments in my profession got here when I upset the partitions. When I asked for help. When I cried. When I let people see real Sheldon – disadvantages, fears and the whole lot.

We spend most of our lives at work. If we will not be there, where can we? Vulnerability does not make you soft. It makes you human. And humanity is the heartbeat of leadership.

When your team sees that you are not perfect – but you deal with it, try to appear and they feel protected to do the same. There, trust begins. Innovation is born there. This is where the little hero of everyone in them comes out.

If I could jump in time and talk to my younger myself, falling into this place CEO for the first time, I would say: “The title does not make you a leader. Your actions are done so. You will break. You will feel overwhelmed. But if you are rooted in empathy and passion; look at yourself, go, come, feel and live, believe in your people and you will have your eyes on the way …”

Because leadership is not about all the answers. It’s about walking with your team while leading, following every member of the family in which you are honored that you are part. Together.