I was having a conversation today with the CEO of a prominent, successful tech vendor who told me, “I used to be a developer.” Naturally, I asked, “So you’re not one anymore?”

They paused. “I guess I’ll always be a developer. But I just don’t think of myself that way now — too much other stuff I do.”

That response got me thinking. What is that other stuff?

If you’ve spent any time in the C-suite, you know the list. Budget reviews. Board decks. Staffing. Vendor negotiations. Partner ecosystems. Growth strategy. Revenue targets. Compliance. Sales forecasts. Executive offsites. More meetings than any human should endure.

But what stuck with me wasn’t the administrative weight — it was what the CEO said next.

They admitted that many of their decisions, goals and even product vision were shaped by their younger self. Their developer self. The one who used to sit in the trenches — late nights, tight deadlines, chasing down bugs and fighting off pager fatigue.

And that got me wondering:

Are CxOs Secretly Managing for Their Younger Selves?

Forget AI for a moment. Forget digital transformation, multi-cloud complexity, or quarterly earnings. Is our true north as leaders shaped by who we used to be — the problems we once wrestled with, the frustrations we felt, the things we swore we’d fix “if we were ever in charge”?

This isn’t just a developer thing. I’ve seen CISOs make strategic investments that trace directly back to the incident response bottlenecks they faced earlier in their careers. I’ve watched CIOs fund observability platforms they wish they had as ops leaders. And I’ve seen CMOs who still think like content marketers, obsessing over every blog title.

So maybe it’s not just nostalgia. Maybe it’s a quiet force guiding the decisions we make in power.

It’s Not Wrong — But it is Revealing

To be clear: drawing from experience is a strength. The best leaders never forget what it’s like to be closer to the front lines. That empathy is a competitive advantage. It keeps us honest. It keeps us human.

But there’s also a risk. When we subconsciously lead with our past in mind, we can:

• Over-prioritize legacy pain points that are no longer relevant 
• Undervalue other roles and perspectives we didn’t live ourselves 
• Miss the broader business context in favor of tactical wins 

The key is awareness. And in my experience, most CxOs don’t even realize they’re doing it.

Four Signs you Might be Managing for Your Younger Self:

1. You invest heavily in solving problems you personally experienced — regardless of current strategic alignment.
   That dashboard you wish you had? The automation you dreamed of? Just make sure it solves today’s problem, not just yesterday’s annoyance. 
2. You instinctively side with teams that reflect your background.
   Are you a former developer who gives engineering the benefit of the doubt but pushes back harder on product or design? You’re not alone. 
3. You frame decisions with “Back when I was in X role…” too often.
   That context is useful — but make sure it’s not becoming a crutch. 
4. You struggle to let go of the technical weeds.
   The temptation to “just fix it myself” doesn’t disappear. But your job isn’t to code anymore — it’s to build the environment where others can thrive.
   

So What Can We Do With This Self-Awareness?

1. Embrace your origin story — don’t be trapped by it.
   It’s okay to have a bias. Just name it. The more openly you acknowledge it, the more effectively you can manage around it.
2. Surround yourself with perspectives that challenge you.
   Your leadership team shouldn’t be a mirror. It should be a mosaic. Hire people with different pasts — and listen to them.
3. Ask: Am I solving the most important problem, or just the most familiar one?
   Today’s business may demand answers you’ve never personally experienced. That’s okay. That’s leadership.
4. Turn empathy into empowerment.
   Use your experience to advocate, not to dictate. Create structures, tools, and cultures that remove blockers — not recreate your path.

As CxOs, we lead large organizations. We make decisions that affect lives, careers, customer outcomes, even the markets we serve. But behind all the strategy and structure, there’s still that younger version of us — the one who remembers how things used to be.

That version isn’t a liability. It’s a compass.

Just make sure you’re using it to navigate forward — not in reverse.