Navigating the Gap bewteen Vision and Reality
As the new CTO of a boutique company, I envisioned myself at the helm of innovation – crafting strategies, building high-performing teams, and delivering integration solutions that could transform businesses. My role, however, turned out to be a stage where technical expertise wasn’t the star performer.
Instead, I found myself grappling with something far removed from my comfort zone, sales.
In those early weeks, I eagerly took charge of team meetings, walking them through best practices in integration, sharing stories of past successes, and laying out frameworks for scaling their capabilities. Picture this ` a room filled with bright-eyed professionals eager to soak up knowledge, as I sketched complex integration architectures on whiteboards, explaining how middleware could become the backbone of an enterprise’s digital transformation`
Yet, the energy in those sessions slowly gave way to an unspoken tension. During one such meeting, as I detailed how APIs could be effectively designed for scalability, a team member cautiously raised a hand.
“Sir,” they asked, “what’s the sales pipeline looking like? Are we closing any deals?”
I paused, marker in hand, caught off guard. Sales pipeline? That wasn’t the role I had signed up for. My instinct was to shift the conversation back to technology, but the room’s silence was deafening.
In the weeks that followed, these moments became increasingly common. After a long day of reviewing integration strategies, I’d find myself in conversations with the CEO about deal closures, profit margins, and client acquisition strategies. My technical vocabulary—filled with terms like “patterns, asynchronous messaging” and “data transformation”—seemed out of place in discussions about lead conversion rates and market positioning.
The Misalignment Unfolds
One particular incident stands out. I was hosting a webinar on integration best practices, with attendees ranging from industry peers to junior developers. My presentation was polished, and I felt a surge of pride as I wrapped up with a Q&A session.
Few hours after the webinar ended, the CEO said
“That was great,” they said, “but how many leads do you think we generated from this? Did anyone seem interested in a follow-up demo?”
The question hit me like a cold breeze. In that moment, my frustrations came bubbling to the surface. I was here to elevate the company’s technical capabilities, to make our solutions shine. Instead, my contributions were measured in potential deals and dollar values.
Conversations That Revealed the Gap
During team huddles, I often found myself switching between two worlds – speaking to my young team about system integrations, and then fielding questions about sales strategies. The misalignment became painfully clear. One day, after a particularly long meeting, a colleague approached me with a spreadsheet of prospective clients.
“Do you think you could connect us with any of these leads?” they asked.
I looked at the list, feeling like an imposter in my own role. I didn’t know these people or their businesses well enough to make meaningful connections. This wasn’t just outside my skill set – it was outside my passion.
To bridge the gap, I threw myself into learning sales strategies, reading up on pipeline management, and even attending leadership webinars for CTOs. But the more I tried, the more it felt like I was wearing a suit tailored for someone else.
A Quiet Frustration
In moments of reflection, I’d sit at my desk, staring at diagrams of integration frameworks I’d drawn up for clients who hadn’t materialized. My frustration wasn’t with the company’s expectations—it was with my inability to fit into them. I knew sales were the lifeblood of any business, but I also knew my core strength wasn’t in bringing deals home; it was in building solutions.
My team, meanwhile, started showing signs of discontent. They wanted projects to work on, real-world challenges to solve. And while I could train them in integration, I couldn’t create the opportunities that would let them grow. The weight of their unspoken disappointment added to my own.
The Turning Point
The misalignment reached its peak during a heated discussion with the CEO. They were frustrated with the slow pace of deal closures; I was frustrated with being cast in a role that didn’t align with my expertise. As the conversation unfolded, I realized that no amount of effort on my part would bridge the fundamental gap between what the company needed and what I could offer.
Ultimately, I made the decision to step away. It wasn’t an easy choice, but it was the right one. My time there wasn’t a failure – it was a lesson in self-awareness, alignment, and the importance of staying true to your core strengths.
The Lesson in Retrospect
As I look back, I don’t see the experience as a misstep, but rather as a reminder of the importance of clarity – in roles, expectations, and alignment. It taught me to ask the right questions before stepping into a new role and to recognize the difference between growth opportunities and fundamental misalignments.
For those navigating similar challenges, my advice is this “know where your strengths lie, but more importantly, understand the environment where they’ll thrive”.
Every role has its demands, but not every demand will match your expertise – and that’s okay.
En See