The most successful CEOs I know have one thing in common:

They’ve figured out their unique superpower and built their entire role around it.

Most CEOs do the exact opposite. They spend 80% of their time on things that drain them and 20% on what makes them irreplaceable.

It’s organizational suicide, and it’s happening in most companies right now.

The Tobi Lütke Masterclass

Let me tell you about the smartest CEO decision I’ve ever seen.

Tobi Lütke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify, is deeply introverted. Technical. Product-obsessed. The “business” stuff didn’t interest him early on.

In traditional corporate wisdom, this would be a liability. CEOs are supposed to be charismatic rain makers. They’re supposed to love the spotlight. They should excel at investor relations and media appearances.

Tobi said “screw that". Instead of trying to overcome his “weaknesses,” he leaned into his superpowers:

His Superpowers:

✅ Product vision and technical architecture

✅ Deep systems thinking

✅ Obsessive attention to product details

✅ Understanding complex technical trade-offs

How He Built His Role Around Them:

✅ Spends the majority of his time on product decisions and new technology

✅ Reviews every major technical architectural choice

✅ Stays close to the code and user experience

✅ Maintains final approval on all product direction and technology choices.

But here’s where his brilliance really shows…

The “Polar Opposite” Strategy

Tobi didn’t try to become something he wasn’t. Instead, he hired his polar opposite to handle everything that drained his energy.

Enter Harley Finkelstein. Where Tobi is introverted, Harley is a force of nature. Where Tobi avoids the spotlight, Harley seeks it. Where Tobi thinks in systems, Harley thinks in stories.

Harley owns:

✅ Wall Street relations and investor communication

✅ Media appearances and public speaking

✅ Partnership negotiations and business development

✅ External evangelism and thought leadership.

This isn’t just delegation. This is strategic role design.

Tobi didn’t overcome his introversion—he designed around it. And the results speak for themselves: Shopify is worth $254 billion and still growing.

The Superpower Audit

If you want to build your role around your superpowers: Open a document and answer these questions with brutal honesty:

What is your unique superpower as a CEO?

This isn’t what you think you SHOULD be good at. This is what comes naturally to you. What do you lose track of time doing? What do other people consistently ask for your input on?

Some examples: Strategic vision and big-picture thinking Technical architecture and product decisions Sales and customer relationships. Operational excellence and execution. Team building and culture creation. Financial modelling and deal structuring.

What % of your time do you currently spend exercising this superpower?

Track your calendar for the next week. Be honest. If your superpower is strategic thinking, how much uninterrupted time do you have for deep strategy work? If it’s customer relationships, how much time are you actually spending with customers?

Most CEOs are shocked by this number. It’s usually under 20%.

What activities are consuming your time that anyone else could handle?

Make a list of everything on your calendar. For each item, ask: “Am I the only person who can do this?” If the answer is no, it’s a candidate for delegation, automation, or elimination.

What would you need to change to double the time spent on your superpower?

This is where the magic happens. If you could spend 40-60% of your time on your unique strength, how would that change your impact? Your energy? Your company’s trajectory?

The Energy Economics of Leadership

Here’s something most leadership books won’t tell you: Working in your superpower gives you energy. Working outside of it drains you.

Think about the last time you spent three hours in your zone of genius. How did you feel afterward? Energized? Motivated? Ready for more?

Now think about the last time you spent three hours on something you hate. Maybe spreadsheet work when you’re a visionary, or networking when you’re an introvert. How did that feel?

Energy is your most precious resource as a CEO.

Every minute spent outside your superpower doesn’t just waste that minute—it reduces your effectiveness for hours afterward.

The best CEOs understand this intuitively. They protect their energy like a scarce resource because it is one.

The Multiplication Effect

When you operate in your superpower, you multiply your impact. This is where you get leverage.

A CEO spending 60% of their time on strategic thinking doesn’t just do 3x more strategy work than one spending 20%. They do exponentially better strategy work because they’re operating from a place of energy and natural talent. They make the time to really think and let the insights come.

This compounds in three ways:

1. Quality Multiplier: Work in your superpower is higher quality
2. Speed Multiplier: You complete it faster with less effort
3. Innovation Multiplier: You see possibilities others miss

Building Your Support System

Once you’ve identified your superpower, you need to automate, eliminate or delegate everything else.

This doesn’t mean hiring a bunch of expensive executives. It means being strategic about:

What to Automate: Repetitive tasks that drain your time. Data analysis and reporting. Scheduling and administrative work.

What to Delegate: Tasks that energize other people. Work that develops your team. Responsibilities that others can do 80% as well.

What to Eliminate: Meetings that don’t need your unique input. Reports you don’t actually use. Processes that exist “because we’ve always done them”.

What to Hire For: Your polar opposite skills. Areas where you need world-class talent. Functions that unlock your superpower.

This is how CEOs become limitless. Not by becoming good at everything, but by becoming world-class at their thing and building systems around it.

Your Action Plan

Starting this week:

1. Time Audit: Track how you spend your time for one week
2. Energy Audit: Note which activities give vs. drain energy
3. Superpower Definition: Clearly articulate your unique strengths 4. Gap Analysis: Identify what needs to be automated, delegated, or eliminated
4. Design Phase: Redesign your role around your superpower

Remember: Your superpower isn’t just what you’re good at. It’s what you’re uniquely good at that creates disproportionate value for your company.

The Bottom Line

Stop trying to be a well-rounded CEO. Start being a world-class one.

Your superpower got you here. Protecting and amplifying it will take you to the next level.

What’s your superpower, and what are you going to do this week to protect it?

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© 2025 SurePath Capital Partners, Inc, dba 'Mark MacLeod, CEO Coach'