By Hien DeYoung
“Becoming a CEO wasn’t about leaving her past behind. It was about recognizing how much of what she needed was already there.”
Taking On a Very Different Role
When I began working with a first-time CEO that I’ll call Maya, she was making a remarkable career change. After years as a PhD researcher and tenured professor at an international university, she had become co-founder and CEO of a biotech startup.
Her co-founder was the technology’s inventor and a long-tenured professor at an American university. Until Maya came on board, his only route to market had been licensing agreements, which gave him little say in how the technology was developed or whether it reached patients. Maya believed they could raise the money to build a company and guide the technology from the lab into real-world use by patients.
It was an ambitious goal that asked Maya to lead in new ways. She wanted coaching to help her grow into the CEO role, work productively with her co-founder, and build the relationships the young company needed.
Growing Into the CEO Role
Maya brought tremendous intelligence, discipline, and determination. But leading a startup called for different skills than succeeding in academia. She had to give clear direction, make decisions with incomplete information, and address performance problems early.
We looked honestly at the parts of the role she was still holding at arm’s length. Maya sometimes put off difficult conversations or waited too long to give feedback. We worked on making her expectations clear, in conversation and in writing, so people understood where the company was headed and what they were responsible for.
We also took a clear-eyed look at the team. Maya had to consider whether each person could help the company meet the demands of its next stage. Over time, she became more comfortable addressing gaps and making the decisions the business required.
Finding a Way Forward with Her Co-Founder
Working with her co-founder was one of Maya’s hardest challenges. He struggled to share control, was wary of outside investors, and lacked the clinical experience needed to produce the data that would move the technology forward. Maya couldn’t simply overrule him. The two needed to find a way to work together.
We spent time looking at how he saw the company and what mattered most to him. Understanding his point of view helped Maya communicate in ways he was more likely to hear. She also learned to separate what she could influence from what she could not change.
When the relationship was especially difficult, Maya came back to why she had accepted the role: she wanted this technology to reach patients. That unshakeable purpose kept her focused on the larger goal rather than getting pulled into every disagreement. She also learned that being CEO didn’t mean always being the person out front. Sometimes a trusted colleague was better positioned to move an important decision forward.
Building the Relationships the Company Needed
Maya also had to find her footing in the worlds of business and investment. These were unfamiliar rooms, and at first she wondered whether her lack of experience in them meant she did not belong. Our work helped her see her background differently. Everything she had already accomplished as a researcher, professor, and co-founder was part of what made her ready to be CEO. She didn’t need to dismiss that experience. She needed to trust it and build from it.
Together, we identified the relationships most important to the company. Maya began asking for introductions, seeking out opportunities, and entering conversations that once felt beyond her reach. She came to understand that CEOs rarely move a company forward by relying on authority alone. More often, they earn trust, build cooperation, and help people see why the work matters.
The Shift From New CEO to Proven Leader
Maya began coaching unsure whether she was fully prepared to lead a biotech startup. Gradually, she stopped treating the CEO role as something she still had to earn. She began drawing more confidently on the experience, judgment, and sense of purpose she already had.
With early investment from friends and family, the company moved forward, and Maya ultimately led it through a $100 million sale to an international pharmaceutical company. The sale was a tremendous achievement. Just as important was the leader she had become. Maya could set direction, hold people accountable, build new relationships, and find a way forward without relying on authority.
She also learned that there is no neat line between the professional and personal demands of being CEO. The role asked a great deal of her. There was no simple answer for every challenge, but Maya developed the judgment to know when to step forward, when to bring people together, and when someone else could move the work ahead more effectively.
What This Engagement Reinforced for Me as a Coach
Maya’s experience reinforced that growing into a CEO role doesn’t mean leaving behind the person you were before. Her rigor helped her ask better questions. Her persistence kept her moving through difficult moments. And her curiosity helped her understand people whose perspectives were very different from her own. The work was learning how to use those strengths in new ways — with her team, her co-founder, and the people whose support the company needed.
The $100 million sale was an extraordinary achievement, but it tells only part of the story. Just as meaningful was the growth behind that achievement. She learned to trust her judgment, be clearer about what she expected, and stay focused on what mattered when the path forward wasn’t easy. She grew into the CEO her company needed not by becoming someone else, but by leading more fully as herself.