11/21/2024

How to Navigate Each Phase of the CEO Journey

Successful CEOs are built, not born

The myth of the omnipotent CEO is ever-present in today's discourse on leadership—as is its counterpart, the corporate villain whose failings are all too clear. This mythologizing is highly flawed, popularizing badly misguided notions about how CEOs succeed. People hear about the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and precious little about the messy middle characterizing the path from point A to B.

As advisers to both new and long-serving CEOs, we have seen the reality first-hand: Even the highest performers don’t start the job as fully formed forces of nature. Many had serious deficits they worked hard to correct and still struggled mightily with the evolving challenges of the role, not only in the early going but throughout their tenures.

We saw an opportunity to reframe the common narratives about superior CEO performance. Rather than listing the characteristics of high-performing leaders, we sought objective data about the stages of development CEOs traverse to excel. We analyzed the individual performance of every 21st century CEO of the S&P 500. Then we had in-depth conversations with more than 100 CEOs around the world. Our research, detailed in our new book, The Life Cycle of a CEO: The Myths and Truths of How Leaders Succeed, reveals a groundbreaking road map for CEO success.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Chief Executive.