Johannes fell in love with the CEO role when he understood it as the fastest way to grow as a person. No other job confronts you with such frequency with problems — your bank disappears overnight, you lay off 30% of people who trusted you, you communicate through shame and guilt. These crises surface who you really are.
The journey that starts as personal growth (“become the best version of myself”) naturally evolves into wanting the same for others. Johannes now wants every person who leaves ONA to feel they have more capacity, more empowerment, and better self-understanding than when they arrived.
“I fall in love with the CEO and founder job when I really understood that this is the fastest way to grow me and myself as a person.”
Joe observes that anyone who genuinely pursues self-understanding eventually arrives at the same place: contributing to others’ growth becomes inseparable from your own. Building a company is like growing a child — deeply aligned principles make it invigorating rather than overwhelming.
Related Concepts
- Business as self-awareness practice
- Ego obliteration through business
- Business alignment is spiritual alignment