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Dan Larsen took a CEO title he had always wanted, then spent a year learning it was the wrong seat for who he is. He came out of it with a coach, an honest look at what he is actually good at, and a rule he now builds everything around. Point the strategy the right way, then get the right people in the right seats.
Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down with Dan, now president of DCI, a 70-year-old manufacturer he is pulling together out of several acquisitions. Dan is candid about the 2am version of the job, the failure that reset him, and why his first move rebuilding a leadership team was to hire the person who hires.
If you are running a company you have outgrown the ability to run alone, and you keep ending up back in work you thought you handed off, this one is for you.
In this episode:
- The role that looked like a promotion and became his hardest failure
- Why his first hire rebuilding the leadership team was a VP of HR
- The Barry Conchie question that exposes why CEOs keep doing work they already handed off
- What "the who, not the how" looks like when you actually map seats and players
- Moving a 70-year manufacturer from reactive order-taking to going after the customers it wants
- The 2am version of the Doom Loop, and what puts him back to sleep
Connect with Dan Larsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-larsen-2109128/
ABOUT THE PODCAST
Escape the CEO Doom Loop is honest conversation about what it takes to lead a growing company without losing your mind. Each episode, Glen and John sit down with CEOs, the advisors who work alongside them, and the authors who shaped how they think.
The through-line is the Doom Loop. The cycle where capable CEOs carry too much, solve instead of lead, and feel responsible for everything while trusted with nothing. The show is for owners and presidents running companies between $10M and $100M who feel some of that and rarely say it out loud. No theory, no hype. Patterns you'll recognize, and the moves that break the loop.
PODCAST HOSTS
Glen Dall is the founder and CEO of Apex North Business Coaching. He works with growth-stage CEOs on the leadership and structure it takes to scale, using the Apex North Star Way, powered by Metronomics. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glendall/
John Ninkovich is a principal at Performix Group, based in Detroit, and has spent his career leading and advising growing companies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-ninkovich-398640/
THE CEO PLAYBOOK
The show grew out of a research project. Glen and John interviewed 72 CEOs to understand why capable leaders get stuck as their companies grow. What they found became The CEO Playbook, a short read on the fears and patterns that stall growth, and what to do about them.
