What happens when decades of executive experience meet the CEO chair for the first time?
Steven DeMaayer stepped into his role as CEO of Novatech with more than 25 years of experience in managed IT and senior leadership. Yet his first year reinforced something counterintuitive: becoming CEO doesn't mean having more answers. It requires becoming more comfortable admitting what you don't know.
In this conversation, Steven and Dave Osh explore the transition from experienced executive to first-time CEO—and the leadership shifts that come with it.
Steven shares why he spent his first 90 days learning rather than arriving with a predetermined plan, traveling to all 18 Novatech locations and listening to employees throughout the organization. He reflects on learning to give up control of execution without giving up accountability for outcomes, building trust with a new leadership team, and navigating the expectation that the CEO should somehow know everything.
They also explore a different challenge: moving from an optimization mindset to a growth mindset. Steven discusses why companies can't optimize their way to sustained top-line growth, the role of experimentation in creating organic growth, and how Novatech is evolving as AI rapidly changes both its industry and its clients' needs.
Ultimately, Steven returns to one lesson from his first year: curiosity requires humility. If a CEO needs to appear as though they already have the answers, they may stop asking the questions that help them find better ones.
This episode is about letting go of control, staying curious, and discovering what changes when an experienced leader becomes a first-time CEO.
About Steven DeMaayer:
Steven DeMaayer is CEO of Novatech, a nationwide provider of managed office solutions spanning IT, print, cloud, and security. Before joining Novatech in 2025, Steven held senior leadership roles at Blue Mantis, Carousel Industries, Wipro, Dimension Data, and HP. He brings more than 20 years of IT services leadership experience and holds degrees in Industrial Engineering and Business Administration from the University of Florida.
About Dave Osh
Dave Osh is the founder of Varlinx and a transformation catalyst dedicated to evolving leadership potential and creating a ripple effect of unity in our divided world. His conversations surface practical, human strategies leaders can use tomorrow. Dave is the author of The CEO Potential: Transcend Self, Team and Organization for Lasting Success in the New Age of AI, and is known for his TED talk, Overcoming Bias to Unite Our Divided World.
