The CEO Next Door - Elena L. Botelho & Kim R. Powell & Tahl Raz

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The introductory chapter argues that a typical view of CEOs as powerful, charismatic figures with flawless credentials has led most people to believe they are not CEO material. However, the authors claim that this stereotypical view is missing important insights about what really makes a great CEO.

The book will explore research showing that ordinary people can develop the core behaviors and traits that distinguish successful CEOs. These behaviors, called the “CEO Genome,” revolve around four main areas:

1. Decide: Speed Over Precision - Making quick, effective decisions.

2. Engage for Impact - Orchestrating stakeholders to drive results.

3. Relentless Reliability - Consistently delivering on promises.

4. Adapt Boldly - Embracing change and unknowns.

Mastering these CEO Genome behaviors can transform “ordinary people into world-class leaders,” and help them achieve their dream jobs. The book will share stories, data and insights to illustrate how to develop these behaviors and navigate the challenges of becoming a CEO.

Overall, the chapter aims to shift the narrative around who can become a CEO. By arguing that ordinary people possess the ability to build the right behaviors and traits, it seeks to empower readers to pursue their leadership ambitions. The rest of the book will share how to develop these behaviors and win one’s dream CEO job.

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The text describes Don Slager, an unlikely CEO who rose to become the CEO of Republic Services, a Fortune 500 company. When the author first met Don in 2005, Don did not see himself as CEO material due to his blue-collar background. However, under Don’s leadership, Republic Services’ market cap nearly doubled and he was recognized for his effective leadership.

The author argues that conventional wisdom about CEOs being highly educated graduates is wrong. The author works as a leadership advisor assessing CEO candidates, and has found many CEOs like Don with unconventional backgrounds who excel. Hiring the wrong CEO costs shareholders $112 billion annually.

The author believes focusing only on Fortune 500 CEOs gives a narrow view of CEOs. There are over 2 million CEOs of companies of all sizes in the US, not just Fortune 500 companies. These smaller companies generate significant economic value. Expanding the lens to include all companies changes the profile of the “average” CEO.

The author wants to understand what allows people like Don to succeed as CEOs against the odds. The key questions are: How do people become CEOs? What allowed Don and others to excel? How did they get noticed? What distinguishes successful CEOs from those who fail? The answers could open doors for more people to reach leadership positions if they do the necessary work.

The author’s key points are that conventional wisdom about CEOs is wrong, many successful CEOs have unconventional backgrounds, looking beyond Fortune 500 companies provides a more accurate picture of CEOs, and understanding how people like Don succeed can help more people attain leadership roles.

• The analysis is based on a dataset of 17,000 leadership assessments conducted by ghSMART on CEOs and leaders. These assessments cover competencies, behaviors and transcript text.

• Researchers used cutting-edge techniques like natural language processing and predictive analytics software to analyze the data and uncover patterns and insights.

• The research found that many common myths and perceptions about CEOs are wrong. For example:

• Not all CEOs come from Ivy League schools. Educational backgrounds are diverse.

• Most CEOs did not set out to become CEOs from an early age.

• CEOs are not all egotistical superheroes. In fact, some of the most successful CEOs are introverted.

• Many CEOs have had major career setbacks but still made it to the top job. What differentiates them is how they handled those mistakes.

• Gender does not impact CEO performance, though female CEOs remain underrepresented.

• CEOs succeed based on situational fit, not checking all boxes. They complement weaknesses with strong teams.

• Higher intelligence does not necessarily correlate with CEO performance.

• The researchers concluded that four key CEO Genome Behaviors determine CEO success, regardless of gender or background.

• The book aims to provide a playbook of practices and advice for aspiring CEOs, new CEOs and leaders at all levels to learn from the insights revealed by the research.

That’s a high-level summary of the main points covered in the text. Let me know if you need any clarification or have additional questions.

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The book offers proven steps to help experienced CEOs and board members groom the next generation of leaders. It provides industrial-strength, evidence-based advice to achieve goals and avoid wrong choices.

Section I discusses 4 behaviors associated with CEO success:

• Decisiveness
• Engaging for impact
• Relentless reliability
• Adapting boldly

These are behaviors that can be developed, not innate traits. The author will explain each behavior and provide tools to improve them.

Section II covers how to win your dream CEO job. The author examined career paths of successful CEOs and unveils patterns of success. They discuss how boards decide on CEO candidates and how biases affect the process.

Section III focuses on achieving results as a CEO. Around 25% of CEO departures are forced and the first 2 years are crucial. The author will show how to succeed as a new CEO and avoid common pitfalls.

The authors believe many leaders could be effective CEOs with the right insights. Capability alone is not enough; one must believe the CEO position is achievable. Background and fortune are not key factors - performance and behaviors matter more. Real life stories illustrate how unlikely candidates have become successful CEOs.

The authors’ research involves in-depth interviews of 250+ CEOs to assess competencies, mistakes, and lessons. They determine the probability of candidates’ success against a “scorecard” specific to each company’s needs. This data helps them identify qualities that lead to CEO success early in leaders’ careers.

Chapter 2 discusses the importance of decisiveness and making decisions quickly rather than aiming for perfect precision. The title is “Decide: Speed Over Precision.”

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The text argues that decisiveness, not perfect decision making, is the most important skill for CEOs. While stories often focus on CEOs’ major “bet the company” decisions, what distinguishes top CEOs is their ability to make speedy decisions with conviction, even when they may turn out to be wrong.

The story of Greyhound CEO Steve Gorman illustrates this point. After months of deliberation over how to fix Greyhound’s unprofitable routes, Gorman decided to cut unprofitable routes that did not have population density, based on a map of night lights showing where people lived. His decisive action, though risky, ultimately saved the company. The text argues that a potentially wrong decision is better than no decision when change is needed.

The key for CEOs to make decisions faster is to simplify complexity. Effective mental models and frameworks can distill information and allow for speedier judgment calls. While new CEOs may not have all the facts, they can often decide with 80% of the information instead of waiting for 100%. Using a straightforward framework like “Can we become #1 or #2 in this sector?” can speed up decisions.

In summary, the text posits that decisiveness - making speedy calls with conviction - is the most important skill for CEOs, more so than perfect decision making. Simplifying complexity through frameworks and models enables CEOs to make faster decisions.

Here is a summary of the key points in the text:

1. Use a simple decision framework to filter decisions. Jack Krol used an equation to break down the key elements that contributed to ROI. Reade Fahs also used a formula to determine the key levers that drove profitability in the business. Having a clear decision framework allows CEOs to streamline and simplify decision making.

2. Gather input but don’t seek consensus. CEOs should involve others to improve decisions and build buy-in, but they should not wait for consensus. They give people a voice, not a vote.

3. Make fewer decisions. Once simple frameworks are in place, CEOs can delegate more decisions to employees. They should avoid decisions where others have the information and expertise. They should also screen decisions based on how critical they are to the business.

In summary, the text advocates that CEOs and leaders should employ simple decision frameworks, gather key inputs from others without seeking consensus, and make fewer decisions by delegating and filtering out less critical calls. This will allow them to make better and more impactful decisions instead of getting bogged down in day-to-day minutiae.

Here is a summary of the key recommendations for leaders to make better decisions:

1. Look back - Use past mistakes as a learning opportunity. Analyze what went wrong and what you can learn from it to improve future decisions. Build systems to systematically learn from mistakes.

2. Look inward - Condition your mind for decisiveness by getting enough rest, managing stress, and being aware of your natural decision making tendencies. Physical and emotional wellbeing impacts your ability to make good decisions.

3. Look to the future - Think forward to the future you want to create and reason back to the decisions you need to make today to achieve that future. This can help guide and frame your decision making.

Other tips mentioned include taking ownership of mistakes, collecting facts after a mistake, reflecting the cost of mistakes in both compensation and team compensation, gathering teams for post-mortems to identify learnings, and developing good “System 2” deliberate thinking to train your “System 1” intuitive thinking.

The art of apology when mistakes do happen is also important, with advise to be personal, focused, genuine, make no excuses, act swiftly, and be comprehensive while articulating an action plan to prevent recurrences.

In summary, the key is to use mistakes as learning opportunities, condition your mind for decisiveness, and think strategically about the future you want to create and the decisions needed to get there.

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1. CEOs are largely dependent on others for execution and success. Highly independent CEOs are more likely to underperform.

2. CEOs must navigate a wide range of stakeholders with diverse and often conflicting interests.

3. While stamina is an asset, simply being “likeable” is not enough for CEO success. CEOs who engage others with a results orientation were 75% more successful.

4. Veteran CEO Bill Amelio attributes motivating teams to action by clearly painting the picture of current reality and a better tomorrow. This motivates people to follow.

5. Decisiveness is linked to the ability to engage others in a way that drives results, which is the focus of the next chapter.

6. A conductor needs an orchestra to make music. Leaders must enlist others to create change and realize their vision.

Overall, the key takeaway is that CEOs and leaders must engage and orchestrate stakeholders in a results-oriented way to drive execution and achieve success. Simply being “likeable” is insufficient. Leaders must motivate and compel others to action by painting a compelling vision of a better future.

Hope this summary helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

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The text discusses the concept of “engaging for impact” as a leader versus being “too nice.” It argues that while being agreeable and likeable can help up to a point, past a “sweet spot” it can backfire. Successful CEOs balance engaging with others for impact rather than just affinity.

The text uses the example of “Gary,” a CEO who is overly agreeable and seeks to please everyone. This leads to lack of focus, conflicting priorities, and dysfunction in the organization. His “too nice” approach eventually gets him fired.

The text proposes that CEOs who engage for impact are akin to great orchestra conductors. They set a vision, listen deeply to understand others, and establish a pulse to fulfill the vision. This requires having the ability to say no, make tough personnel decisions, and create constructive dissatisfaction.

The text outlines three principles of CEOs who engage for impact:

1. They lead with intent by articulating a clear vision and aligning their actions with it.
2. They understand the needs of various stakeholders
3. They build routines to enlist stakeholders in supporting the vision.

The text argues that articulating intent for oneself is the hardest part, and illustrates this with the example of a CEO named Nick who struggles to delegate more effectively.

Overall, the key takeaway is that while being agreeable can help at first, leaders must balance that with “engaging for impact” by articulating and pursuing a clear vision to effectively lead an organization.

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The passage discusses the importance of aligning intent at both the aspirational and transactional level in order to be an effective leader. It uses the examples of Nick, the CEO of an investment firm, and the 2017 United Airlines incident to illustrate this point.

Nick initially attended investment meetings with the intent of driving decisions, but his team relied on him too much. When he clarified his true intent of coaching and developing his team, it empowered them to step up.

The United Airlines incident showed how a misalignment of intent across levels can be costly. The flight attendant’s transactional intent of avoiding delays conflicted with United’s aspirational intent of providing a positive customer experience.

For leaders to translate intent into effective action, they must ask themselves what outcome they want from each interaction and how to achieve that outcome. Clear intent allows leaders to tailor their messages to influence stakeholders.

The passage then discusses the importance of understanding stakeholders in order to rally them behind decisions. It uses Neil Fiske as an example of a CEO who was able to listen to customers, extract what was important to them, and reflect that back in a way they could relate to. His ability to “translate” helped drive growth at the companies he led.

In summary, the key takeaways are that leaders need clarity of both aspirational and transactional intent, an understanding of stakeholders, and the ability to “translate” their intent and vision in a way that resonates with different groups.

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The text discusses the importance of perspective getting for leaders, especially CEOs. Perspective getting means understanding other people’s viewpoints and needs by listening and asking questions, rather than just imagining or projecting your own perspectives onto others.

The text cites several examples of CEOs who succeeded or failed based on their ability to understand the perspectives of stakeholders like customers, employees, and board members. CEOs who engage for impact focus on perspective getting:

• Neil improved a clothing company’s $1 billion launch by understanding women customers through listening and questioning, rather than guessing.

• Devon lacks empathy but understands audiences through insight and analysis, like recognizing a customer’s liking for being smart and risk averse.

• Introverts are often good at perspective getting through listening and preparation.

• Scott Cook built a $5 billion business at Intuit by having teams observe customers firsthand to understand problems.

• Steve Kaufman made a mistake at Arrow Electronics by projecting his perspective onto his team without understanding their motivations first. He had to walk back his plan and learned to involve those who understood the business better.

The text argues that mentoring others can be a tool for perspective getting since you have to understand a mentee’s needs to help them. And leaders who mentor gain a supportive network that helps them succeed. CEO Jim Donald said “taking care of everybody in the organization first” was the secret to his success.

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Reliability is a surprisingly important behavior for CEOs and business leaders. Though often seen as mundane, reliability has been shown to:

• Increase a candidate’s chances of getting hired for a CEO role
• Correlate with high performance once in the CEO role
• CEOs who are known for reliability are 15 times more likely to excel as CEOs and have twice the odds of getting hired compared to others

Despite this, reliability scores the lowest for leaders on assessments. There are two main reasons for this:

1. Leaders rising through large companies rely on existing reliable systems and processes. They lack experience building reliable systems themselves.

2. Leaders at small companies are used to an “all-hands-on-deck” approach, putting out fires and keeping busy. They lack experience with consistently executing over the long term.

Reliability as a habit comes from:

• Defining your intent clearly
• Understanding different stakeholders
• Building routines to enlist people behind your intent

The key takeaways regarding reliability are:

1. Define your aspirational intent and transactional intent
2. Practice perspective getting to understand stakeholders
3. Build routines to deliver consistently

In summary, while reliability may seem mundane, it is actually critical for CEOs and leaders to excel due to its impact on performance and hireability. However, leaders often struggle with reliability due to a lack of experience proactively building reliable systems and processes.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

The author argues that reliability is an important trait for CEOs and leaders. Reliable leaders consistently deliver on their goals and commitments, which builds trust and high performance in their organizations.

The text uses Bill Amelio as an example of a reliable CEO. Amelio consistently adheres to schedules, communicates clearly, follows through rigorously, and holds people accountable. This reliability has helped turn around underperforming companies that he leads.

The key aspects of being a reliable leader are: being personally consistent, setting realistic expectations, practicing radical personal accountability, and embedding consistency into the organization.

Being personally consistent creates clear expectations for others and allows them to perform at their best. Examples of consistency include being on time for meetings, making commitments clear, following up on actions, making and following lists.

To be reliable, leaders must also set realistic expectations that they can realistically achieve. They should account for challenges and communicate when goals need to change. This keeps stakeholders properly informed and manages reliability over time.

In summary, the text argues that reliability is a powerful CEO trait that builds trust, performance, and employee engagement in organizations. CEOs who are known for consistency, follow-through, and delivering on what they promise enable the most success.

Here is a summary of the key points in the passage:

1. Reliability means doing what you say you will do and shaping expectations to ensure reliable delivery. Proactively managing commitments and expectations is key.

2. Reliable leaders recognize both explicit and implicit expectations. They work to reset expectations if needed to achieve success.

3. To earn the right to hold others accountable, leaders must first hold themselves accountable to the highest standards. They practice radical personal accountability.

4. Underlying reliable leaders’ behavior is a core desire to be dependable and stand up for others. Their motivation is to help others succeed, not just achieve individually.

5. Reliable leaders adopt practices from High-Reliability Organizations like nuclear reactors and aircraft carriers. These practices focus on minimizing failures and ensuring safety.

In summary, reliability as a leadership trait comes from shaping expectations, holding oneself accountable, focusing outward on helping others succeed, and adopting proven practices to minimize failures and deliver results. Proactively managing commitments and transparently holding oneself to the highest standards earns leaders the trust and buy-in needed to build a high-performing organization.

Industry: The article discusses companies in general, with examples from a variety of industries including healthcare, manufacturing, and technology.

Objectives: The objective is to achieve reliability through consistent and error-free operations. The companies discussed are focused on avoiding failures and mistakes that could be costly or even catastrophic.

Context: The companies mentioned are in situations where reliability is critical, either because lives are at stake (hospitals), products require extremely high precision (semiconductor manufacturing), or because cash flow is tight (turnaround situations).

The strategies discussed to achieve reliability focus on:

1. Making mistakes safe by encouraging employees to report errors and near misses
2. Leveling the playing field by empowering all employees to raise issues and speak up
3. Creating a precise shared vocabulary to improve communication and alignment
4. Building processes and systems for consistent execution and holding people accountable for results

Tools like a scorecard are recommended to make goals, priorities, and accountabilities explicit for individuals and teams.

Overall, the key is creating a culture where mistakes are seen as opportunities for improvement, combined with disciplined processes and systems to ensure consistency and avoid recurring errors.

Here is a summary of the key points in the passage:

1. Companies like Kodak, Blockbuster and Borders failed to adapt and eventually went out of business, showing the importance of adaptability for companies today. The average life span of companies has decreased significantly.

2. Adapt or perish is the inevitable imperative. Leaders need to learn to navigate the unknown waters to succeed.

3. A Navy SEAL officer said humility separates good from great leaders. Great leaders recognize they don’t have all the answers and can learn from others.

4. For CEOs, their job is to adapt the relentles uncertainty into opportunity. They have to chart new paths before there is no other choice.

5. CEOs who adapt boldly are 7 times more likely to succeed. Adaptability is rapidly growing in importance for CEOs.

6. The best leaders thrive in a condition of relentless discomfort, adapting themselves and their organizations. They adapt themselves and the organization before change confronts them.

7. Life as a CEO is compared to leading people in a foxhole every day. Plans often have to change along the way.

8. The CEO’s job is to navigate the unknown, while issues that are known should be addressed by subordinates.

In summary, the key takeaway is that adaptability and the ability to navigate the unknown have become crucial skills for CEOs and leaders today in order to thrive and succeed in an fast-changing environment.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

• Organizations that can adapt to changing conditions welcome discomfort, conflict and change as a way to learn and improve. Uncomfortable CEOs are often learning and changing at a faster pace.

• Jim Smith, CEO of Thomson Reuters, exemplifies adaptability. His background and upbringing prepared him for constant change. He learned from failures and bounced back stronger.

• CEOs carry portfolios of near disasters. They turn fear into curiosity and learn to embrace the discomfort of the unknown.

• They actively seek out novelty, taking on new tasks and experiences to build adaptation muscles.

• They weigh jobs by learning potential, not just pay. They take on new, unfamiliar roles to broaden their skills.

• They acquire skills they lack, practicing even if uncomfortable at first.

• They are willing to let go of past approaches that worked, like when Andy Grove let go of Intel’s memory chip business to pioneer microprocessors.

• The most successful CEOs become experts at letting go of past strategies, business models and personal habits to adapt.

In summary, adaptable leaders actively seek out challenges, broaden their skills, acquire new abilities, and are willing to let go of the familiar in order to embrace change and lead through uncertainty.

Here is a summary of the key points in the passage:

1. Leaders have to let go of activities that drove their initial success in order to take on greater leadership roles and change things. This can be very difficult.

2. Great leaders are constantly learning and becoming more comfortable with discomfort.

3. CEOs need to focus more on the future to keep their organizations on track. This involves spending more time thinking long-term.

4. Building an “antenna” for the future involves:

• Building diverse information networks outside of your industry to spot opportunities and threats
• Asking good questions to challenge assumptions and build a fact base
• Orienting yourself to think about decisions 10 years out and what your successors may need

5. Effective CEOs tap into broad networks and sources of information to sense changes early and act strategically. They view potential competitors broadly.

6. Asking the right questions helps leaders uncover valuable insights and opportunities they otherwise would have missed.

In summary, leaders need to let go of activities that led to their initial success, develop a future orientation, build diverse networks, ask good questions, and develop a long time horizon in order to most effectively lead and adapt their organizations.

1. Train your adaptation muscles by taking on new challenges and experiences. This will help you adapt to change.

2. Let go of outdated habits, practices and assumptions. Perform an annual “spring cleaning” to identify what is holding you back.

3. Build your foresight by:

• Assembling an “Inspiration Cabinet” of diverse people who expose you to new ideas
• Scheduling “Foresight time” to consider future scenarios
• Spending time immersed in the customer experience
• Asking curious questions.

4. Look into the “crystal ball” of customer experience. Spend time with customers to gain insights and uncover opportunities. Customers don’t always know what they need.

5. Avoid cognitive overload. Focus on the most important data that matters for making decisions.

6. The four CEO behaviors - Adapt, Engage, Decide, and Reliable - are interconnected. They vary in importance depending on context.

In summary, to be highly successful, a CEO needs the ability to adapt, engage others, make decisive decisions, and deliver reliability - but the relative importance of each depends on the situation. Adaptation skills may be critical for a startup CEO, while reliability is key for a hospital CEO.

The key is balancing all four behaviors appropriately for your specific context to achieve the best outcomes.

Here is a summary of the key points in the passage:

1. Most CEOs don’t start their careers with the goal of becoming a CEO. About 70% only develop CEO ambitions later in their careers, as their aspirations grow with higher positions.

2. There are two factors that influence one’s trajectory to the CEO role: getting results in the right roles and getting noticed for those results.

3. CEOs’ careers can be divided into three stages:

• Stage 1 (early career, years 0-8): Build a broad range of skills and experiences by moving across functions, industries, and geographies. The goal is to maximize learning. An MBA can also help at this stage.

• Stage 2 ( mid-career, years 9-16): Build industry experience, leadership skills, and a track record of measurable results, typically in general management roles. About 90% of CEOs have general management experience before becoming CEO.

• Stage 3 (late career): Move into the CEO role.

4. To accelerate progress, future CEOs demonstrate substantial results in their roles, often turning around underperforming businesses.

5. The example of Christine shows an unconventional but typical experiential trajectory to the CEO role, without an MBA or consulting experience. She held general management roles of increasing scope and responsibility within the fitness industry before becoming CEO.

In summary, while there is no single path to becoming a CEO, the article highlights common patterns seen in many CEO career trajectories: building broad foundational skills early on, gaining deep industry and leadership experience in middle years, and demonstrating substantive business results before moving into the CEO role.

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The text discusses the importance of making big career leaps and taking on stretching roles in order to accelerate one’s trajectory to a CEO position. It highlights the experiences of CEOs who took “big leaps” early in their careers that helped catapult them to the CEO role. Some key points:

• Taking on roles that require significantly more responsibility, people management, or span of control, even if unfamiliar, demonstrates the necessary skills, capabilities and temperament for senior leadership roles.

• Over a third of the “Sprinters” - CEOs who reached the role faster than average - had taken at least one big leap early in their careers, half within the first 8 years.

• Two examples are given of CEOs who credit a big leap as fueling their success:

• Christine moved from an entry level role to running a regional P&L, and later took on a CIO role despite lacking technology experience

• Robert Hanson moved from a small firm to running Levi Strauss’s European brand, giving him critical CEO preparation.

• Krista Endsley built her career through a “series of big leaps”, plotting each role to achieve her ultimate goal of becoming a CEO.

Taking stretching roles that require scaling one’s leadership demonstrates the capabilities needed for CEO roles, from decisiveness to engaging stakeholders. Big leaps can therefore act as career “catapults” that accelerate one’s trajectory.

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The text discusses three potential “career catapults” that can help accelerate one’s career towards a CEO position:

1. Take on opportunities outside one’s comfort zone. This can include seeking cross-functional projects, volunteering for business initiatives, and saying yes to greater opportunities.

2. Leading through “big messes” like underperforming business units or product failures. These challenges require decisiveness, perseverance, and rallying others. Many CEOs see navigating a crisis as a major turning point in their career development.

3. Going to a “small” company or starting something new within an existing company. Executives often get responsibilities faster at smaller companies. Building a business from scratch provides experience larger companies lack.

The text provides examples of individuals who leveraged these opportunities to accelerate their careers, including navigating bankrupt governments, product startups during market downturns, and roles at smaller companies.

The key takeaway is that unconventional, riskier opportunities - those outside one’s comfort zone or involving “messes” - can often provide the experience and skill development that propels one towards a CEO position, if one has the courage to seize them.

Hope this summary helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

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The text discusses career catapults and blowups and how people handle them. It gives examples of people who took smaller or riskier roles that then catapulted their careers forward. It also discusses how some people have experienced “blowups”, like failures or being fired, but how these were not necessarily detrimental if handled properly.

Some key points:

• People like Damien and Christine took smaller roles that they had to learn from scratch, which developed their skills and enabled career progress.

• VJ Joshi took a risky small role building multifunction printers which later led to him running HP’s $19 billion imaging business and eventually becoming CEO.

• About half of the CEOs surveyed experienced some form of “blowup” in their careers, but these did not negatively impact their hiring or performance if handled well.

• How you frame and handle setbacks matters more than the setbacks themselves. Those who saw mistakes as learning opportunities were more likely to succeed.

• Taking ownership of mistakes, rather than blaming others, was critical. Successful leaders reflected on what they learned and how they would do things differently.

• The example of Anne Williams-Isom shows how she seized an early mistake to learn lessons that made her a stronger leader, like asking questions to anticipate risk.

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1. Getting noticed for results is just as important as actually achieving great results in securing high-level roles like CEO. Performance alone is not enough.

2. Future CEOs built visibility with the right people in the right way, not through overt self-promotion. They created visibility to deliver results, not for their own gain.

3. Choosing the right boss is critical. Future CEOs tended to have positive relationships with many of their bosses. They avoided threatening their bosses or making them feel upstaged.

4. Picking the right boss, or adapting to your current one, is important. Make suggestions that reflect your boss’s priorities and language. Avoid conflicts that make your boss see you as a rival.

5. One example is Christopher, who achieved good results but did not spend enough time networking with potential CEO hirers. Improving his visibility ultimately helped him secure a CEO position.

In summary, future CEOs optimize both performance and visibility. They are thoughtful about shaping positive relationships with current and potential sponsors, especially direct supervisors, to build their visibility and influence in an authentic way.

1. Understand and align with your boss’s goals. Ask your boss what their expectations, preferences, and goals are. Keep your boss informed of your interests and career goals. Provide regular updates on your progress and priorities. The goal is to make your boss your collaborator and sponsor.

2. Build relationships with sponsors. In addition to your boss, develop powerful sponsors who can open doors and introduce you to opportunities. Be genuine in how you build these relationships. Share your aspirations, ask for advice, make specific requests, and show appreciation. Bring rare skills that attract sponsorship.

3. Focus your relationship building. At some point, focus your efforts on building strong relationships in one “village.” As Kurt Strovink advised Elena, stop flitting from place to place and instead build “a really large fire that can be seen from space.” Pick where to invest your time to build critical relationships.

The overarching message is that building good relationships, especially with your boss and sponsors, is essential for career success. The tactics outlined can help you develop these strategic connections in a genuine way that aligns with your goals and your organization’s.

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The text argues that early-career visibility boosting roles can help accelerate your career. Staff roles like chief of staff or director of strategy, give you visibility to senior leaders and insight into how they operate.

Even volunteering for cross-functional projects outside your usual job can raise your exposure. Christopher took a staff role at Merck that broadened his skills, network and boosted his visibility.

The text advises asking for what you want to help you be noticed for opportunities. Around 60% of “Sprinters” who reached the top faster proactively asked for their next responsibility. However, you must have earned the right to ask through strong performance.

The text also recommends “rocking the boat” by productively creating conflict to achieve results valuable for the business. While conflict is often perceived negatively, it can strengthen relationships and establish you as a leader when done for the right reasons. Carly was fired for “going rogue” to expose security issues, but was then invited back to head the security team - a major promotion.

In summary, early-career staff and cross-functional roles, along with proactively asking for opportunities and productively creating conflict for business results, can help boost your visibility and accelerate your career ascent.

Here is a summary of the key points in the provided text:

1. Career success depends on both getting results and getting known. You need to work on both.

2. Invest in your relationship with your boss and their boss. This will help you get known and promote visibility.

3. Actively build sponsorship from senior leaders who can advocate for you.

4. Build relationships with key people rather than spreading yourself too thin. Focus on critical relationships.

5. Ask for what you want directly to get what you aim for in your career.

6. Rock the boat for the sake of business results, but do so in a smart way that enhances your image.

7. Speak with executive presence to appear like you belong at the executive table. Speak slowly, confidently and purposefully.

8. Avoid missteps that can damage your reputation like being rude to subordinates, losing your temper often, or having poor judgment on social media.

9. The wrong question to ask when interviewing for a CEO role is how to convince decision makers you’re the best choice. Focus instead on proving you can generate results for the company.

Here is a summary of the key points in the text:

• To get hired for a job, especially a senior position, you need to make the interviewers feel safe. They want to avoid making a risky choice that could backfire on them.

• Be likable and confident during interviews. Likable candidates are more likely to get hired, even if they are not objectively the best candidates.

• Act as a “happy warrior” - show passion, energy and joy while discussing tough challenges. This creates both emotional and practical safety for the interviewers.

• Pay attention to the interviewers’ body language and reactions. Tailor your approach to connect with them and make them feel at ease.

• Avoid landmines during interviews like:

• Foreign accents: Candidates with significant accents are less likely to be hired, due to in-group bias.

• Using jargon: Stick to plain language that everyone can understand.

• Overconfidence:Stay modest and grounded to appear reliable.

• Overall, your job is make the interviewers perceive you as a “safe pair of hands” - someone who will reliably deliver on expectations and not be a risky choice. Feeling safe will make them more likely to hire you.

Does this look like a fair summary of the key points regarding your odds of success in getting hired? Let me know if you’d like me to expand or modify the summary in any way.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

• Accents and rough edges in speech can be seen as unprofessional, especially for senior executives. Candidates should work on improving their accent and communication skills to avoid coming across negatively.

• Using pretentious, overly sophisticated, or “ivory tower” vocabulary in interviews can actually hurt candidates’ chances of getting hired. Candidates should speak in a down-to-earth and colloquial manner, giving specific examples and stories.

• Relying on buzzwords and management platitudes comes across as lacking authenticity and credibility. Candidates should be precise in their language and examples.

• The best candidates balance using “I” and “we” in their stories, crediting the team’s achievements while also clearly describing their own contributions. They avoid overusing “I” which can imply ego.

• The most memorable candidates provide relevant details and examples that show they can deliver results for the company. They use meaningful numbers and data, as well as vivid stories, to leave a lasting impression.

• Candidates should address their mistakes and blowups in a way that shows what they learned from the experience. This can make for an impactful and positive interview story.

• Candidates should invest in the “bookends” of the interview - the first and last minutes - since these are most likely to be remembered. They should convey confidence and readiness for the role.

• Instead of passively answering questions in the interview, candidates should take an active role in shaping the agenda and clearly articulating why they are the best fit for the position.

• A successful CEO interview balances assertiveness with respect for the board. You need to clearly communicate what you will bring to the role and how you will deliver results. But don’t come across as too controlling.

• Prepare three talking points with vivid examples about what you want the board to know and remember about you after the interview. This will help steer the discussion in the right direction.

• Don’t just answer questions; set the agenda. Your approach in the interview should reflect how you will lead.

• The right role for you aligns with your skills, strengths and values. Consider industry experience, your ability to set strategy, and cultural fit.

• Don’t take a CEO job if your instincts say no, the business is unsound, you don’t have autonomy to hire and fire, or you would have to significantly change who you are to succeed.

• CEOs fall into four archetypes: The Sky’s the Limit (growth-focused and entrepreneurial), The Lean, Mean, Operational Machine (focused on efficiency), The Steady Hand (experienced and stable) and The Change Champion (focuses on transformation). Figure out which archetype best fits you to find the right role.

Does this cover the main points accurately? Let me know if you’d like me to modify or expand the summary.

Here’s a summary of the key points in the text:

1. New CEOs often experience a mix of emotions when they first get the job, from joy and hope to fear and doubt. The role turns out to be much heavier and more complex than anticipated.

2. It takes new CEOs around 2 years to feel comfortable in the role. But boards typically give CEOs only about 2 years to prove themselves before firing them for flaws.

3. The authors analyzed 70 cases of CEO firings to identify the 5 main hazards new CEOs face:

• Failure to adapt leadership style to the unique demands of the CEO role
• Failure to build the right team quickly
• Navigating relationships with the board of directors
• Handling the increased visibility and public scrutiny that comes with the role
• Managing the vastly expanded scope and range of responsibilities

4. The next 2 chapters focus on helping new CEOs avoid the most common mistakes: failing to build the right team and navigating relationships with the board.

5. The CEO role requires significant adjustments in habits, assumptions, priorities, filters, relationships and time - it’s a fundamentally different job from previous leadership roles.

So in summary, the key challenges for new CEOs revolve around adapting to the role’s unique demands, building the right supporting structure (team and board relationships), and managing the increased visibility, scrutiny and scope that comes with being the CEO.

Hope this summary helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Here is a summary of the key points in the provided text:

1. When first entering a new leadership role, take time to fully understand the current state of the business. Look for any hidden threats or issues that need to be addressed. This “ghoul hunting” can help set realistic expectations and plans going forward.

2. Conduct listening tours to get input from the board, employees at all levels, customers, and external experts. This helps build an accurate baseline and identify risks.

3. Even if you can’t fix all the issues you find, understanding them early on prepares you to develop workarounds while you still have a clean slate.

4. As you move into higher roles, you have less time to do the same work. Only around 55% of CEOs’ time is spent internally, compared to 80% for other executives. CEOs spend 45% of their time externally with stakeholders.

5. To deal with the faster pace and time crunch, focus on setting coordinates for the future early on. This can help “stretch time” and make the most of the limited time you have.

In summary, the key is to thoroughly understand the business you are inheriting, set realistic plans and expectations, and learn to maximize the limited time you have in higher roles by focusing your attention strategically. Finding and addressing issues early on prepares you for future success.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

The author discusses three main hazards CEOs face when transitioning into their new role:

1. Losing focus on long-term priorities. The author argues that CEOs need to shift their time horizon further out and focus over 40% of their attention more than a year into the future. They also need filters like their administrative assistant to help allocate their time properly to the most important priorities.

2. Difficulty managing their time effectively. The author provides several tips for CEOs to manage their time better like fitting meetings to size, conducting calendar reviews, and learning to say no politely to less important requests.

3. The effects of amplification. Everything CEOs do is amplified and scrutinized more closely. Their every action and decision is seen as a signal by the organization. The author argues that CEOs need to adapt their leadership style to deal with this amplification effect.

In summary, the text discusses the major challenges CEOs face revolving around priority-setting, time management and the increased attention and scrutiny that comes with the CEO role. The author provides advice and examples to help CEOs navigate these hazards and transition more smoothly into their new positions.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

The passage discusses some key hazards that new CEOs often face when transitioning into their roles. One hazard is amplified influence, where the CEO’s behavior and mood has an outsized impact on the entire organization. New CEOs must be conscious of projecting positive body language and managing their emotions carefully.

Another hazard is over-relying on old strengths and expertise instead of utilizing all the levers available to a CEO. These levers include setting strategy and vision, shaping the company culture, and allocating resources effectively. Many first-time CEOs focus too narrowly on their previous functional roles instead of taking a holistic view of the business.

The passage discusses culture shaping as an important CEO lever that is often not utilized early enough. It cites the example of Pfizer CEO Ian Read who prioritized cultural change from his first days in the role, despite other pressing business issues. His focus on shaping Pfizer’s culture ultimately paid dividends in the company’s turnaround.

In summary, new CEOs are advised to be conscious of their amplified influence, utilize all the levers at their disposal beyond their previous functional expertise, and prioritize cultural change from the outset of their tenure. These steps can help set them up for success in their new roles.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

The text discusses several factors that impact a leader’s transition to the CEO role and how to navigate them. It covers the following:

1. Shaping corporate culture. The CEO sets the cultural tone through how they model behaviors, how they spend time, and who they hire. The CEO should reflect once a year on their intentionality and actions that shape culture.

2. Financial strategy. The CEO must learn how to make capital allocation decisions, manage cash flow, optimize taxes, and invest capital. They should partner with the CFO to understand the financials.

3. Corporate diplomacy. The CEO’s influence extends beyond the company walls. They must understand the context the company operates in and build alliances to influence that terrain. This may involve interfacing with government and other organizations.

4. Recalibrating power. The CEO must assess what sources of power helped them rise to the role and recalibrate to suit the needs of the new position. This includes knowledge, information networks, formal authority, and more.

5. Psychological challenges. The CEO role can be a “psychological thunder dome” with intense pressure, high stakes, and loss of control. CEOs must regulate themselves to avoid egos, entitlement, and unethical behavior. Loneliness is also a challenge.

The text recommends creating winning routines, seeking advice and counsel, striving for self-awareness, setting boundaries, and balancing responsibilities as ways CEOs can thrive in the psychological maelstrom of their roles.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

1. CEOs need disciplined routines and rituals that keep them grounded and simplify life. They need mental resets after difficult meetings and routines that prepare them to be at peak performance. Like athletes, consistent routines put CEOs in the right state of mind.

2. CEOs must protect their sense of identity and humanity. The CEO role can subsume a CEO’s personal identity, leading to burnout. CEOs must invest in non-work activities and interests to stay well-rounded.

3. Early on, CEOs should build a network of advisors and confidants outside of the business. As a CEO, many people will offer advice, so CEOs must be selective. Advisors should be free of self-interest, have chemistry with the CEO, and demonstrate competence.

The chapter then discusses that becoming a CEO has both positive and negative parts. CEOs enjoy the “pinch me” moments when they see their teams succeed because of their leadership. However, choosing the right team is cited as a common pitfall for first-time CEOs, discussed in the next chapter.

Key takeaways include: it takes time to adjust to the CEO role; figure out what you’re inheriting from the previous CEO; own your schedule and time; get used to public scrutiny; use all the tools available to a CEO; and get support to navigate being a CEO.

The next chapter will discuss building the right team as a CEO.

1. New CEOs often make mistakes building their teams, despite feeling confident in their ability to do so. The CEO role amplifies talent issues and makes mistakes more costly.

2. Successful CEOs changed 40-60% of their direct reports within the first 18-24 months to build “their” team.

3. Creating an “inaugural address” for your team when you start as CEO is important to lay out your vision, set the right tone, and address people’s anxieties. This establishes what you stand for and what will be required to succeed.

4. In your inaugural address, you should:

• Give an honest assessment of the current state of the organization
• Paint a compelling and concrete vision for the future
• Outline the values essential to achieving that vision
• Show respect for past accomplishments while also identifying gaps

The key message is that what you don’t know by being confident in your ability to build teams can get you in trouble as a new CEO. Taking proactive steps to understand issues, change people who don’t fit, and communicate a bold vision from the start can help make or break your tenure.

• Mary Berner committed Reader’s Digest to six principles, with operational efficiency as the top priority.

• As a new leader, it is important to consider the broader factors that will impact your industry and company. You need a clear call to action for your team from day one.

• Communicate your leadership style and priorities to your team early on. Reassure them that you are available and approachable. Back up your words with daily actions.

• New leaders often make the mistake of maintaining the status quo or favoring pedigree over capabilities when choosing their team. They over-rely on people who helped them get the job instead of picking the right talent.

• Avoid “safe” bets that favor people like you, avoid potential competition, or seem nonthreatening.

• Develop a written people plan that assesses candidates based on vision, alignment, and complementarity of skills. Look ahead to the team you will need in 1-2 and 5 years.

• Top talent in starring roles is critical. Know where you need A-players versus just adequate performance.

The key takeaways are to be deliberate and transparent in choosing your leadership team. Focus on capabilities, alignment and filling gaps, not pedigree or familiarity. Develop a written people plan and stick to it.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you would like me to clarify or expand anything in the summary.

1. People projects are costly for a CEO. Every minute spent fixing underperformers is time not spent doing the CEO’s main job. Keeping weak leaders can negatively impact the business.

2. CEOs should set a higher bar for what “great” looks like in each role. They should envision reassembling their entire team from scratch to meet company goals, not assume they must make do with existing people. They should bring in outside experts to challenge their assumptions.

3. CEOs need to develop a new language as leaders. Most of their impact comes from modifying behaviors through things like:

• Being present to signal priorities and attention
• Remaining silent to show trust in people’s abilities
• Using symbolic gestures to discuss without deciding
• Rewarding truth tellers to get accurate information
• Making themselves available to stay connected
• Showing their humanity to remain relatable

The key is choosing strategically when to cheerlead, provide accountability, or step back, and using measured responses that send big signals with proportionate actions.

In summary, CEOs must evaluate talent differently, set higher standards, and develop an intentional “language” focused on behavior modification to get the most from their team.

Here is a summary of the key points from the provided text:

1. Working with the board is one of the top concerns for new CEOs. Failure to manage the board well is a common mistake made by new CEOs.

2. CEOs should spend 10% to 20% of their time building relationships with the board, especially during key inflection points like starting a new role.

3. A strong board can serve as an asset by holding the CEO accountable, supporting them with advice, and providing an outside perspective. However, many CEOs find their boards underperforming.

4. The text outlines four common pitfalls for CEOs in working with their boards:

• Super Operator: Focuses only on running the business and sees board management as a distraction. Neglecting the board ultimately blocks progress.

• The Heisman: Keeps the board at arm’s length and loses trust quickly when results start to falter.

• The Pollyanna: Only provides positive updates and avoids difficult discussions. The board eventually discovers the issues.

• The Doormat: Gives the board too much power and input, undermining the CEO’s authority.

5. Successful CEOs invest time in building trust, alignment, and strong relationships with their boards from the start of their tenure. This can turn board members from watchdogs into allies.

Hope this summary captures the key points! Let me know if you need anything else.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

The CEO must carefully analyze the board dynamics and power structures to effectively engage the board. New CEOs often feel they need to prove themselves before earning a seat at the table but building power early is important. The CEO has the responsibility to succeed even if that means guiding the board.

Key archetypes of board members include:

• Engaged Partners: Ideal board members who provide thoughtful advice and push the CEO. The CEO should seek to add more of these members.
• Quiet Experts: Have good ideas but don’t speak up unless asked. The CEO should create opportunities for them to add value in their areas of expertise.
• Rubber Stampers: Follow the lead of others and want an agreeable reputation. They can become liabilities in conflict.
• Micromanagers: Want to prove their value but undermine the CEO. The CEO should set clear parameters and provide feedback.
• CEO-in-waitings: Want the CEO’s job. The CEO should initially engage with them openly to understand their motivations and contributions.

Overall, the CEO must gain clarity on the board dynamics, power structures, and differing board member archetypes to effectively lead and engage the board in support of the business.

Here is a summary of the key points regarding building an effective partnership with the board:

1. Understand the individual board members - their backgrounds, motivations, pressures and interests. Build relationships with them based on trust, credibility and familiarity.

2. Invest time in one-on-one conversations with board members to truly understand their perspectives and gain insights. Ask open questions to learn about them.

3. Focus the board’s attention on the most important strategic priorities and initiatives by bringing key issues to the board for discussion and input.

4. Communicate regularly and proactively with board members to avoid surprises and fill in gaps in their knowledge about the business. Provide ample context and details.

5. Align with the board on a clear vision of success for the company and CEO role. Have tough but necessary conversations to achieve true alignment.

6. View the board as a partner and resource, not just an oversight entity. Develop an active two-way relationship of information sharing and decision making.

In summary, the key to an effective CEO-board relationship is frequent and open communication, grounded in shared context, trust and alignment on goals and strategy. The CEO needs to engage proactively with board members to build these solid foundations for partnership.

• Align expectations early with your board members and investors. Be as specific as possible about how you will measure performance and define success.

• Clarify roles and responsibilities upfront between you and the board. The board’s main responsibilities are to hire and fire the CEO, set strategy, approve budgets, advise on risks, approve audits, and avoid getting in the way of management.

• Assign specific tasks and priorities to individual board members to make the most of their expertise.

• Partner with your board chairperson. A strong board chair can help harness diverse viewpoints to push the business forward.

• Consider bringing in new board members to support the next stage of growth for the company.

• Call out unproductive behavior from board members to keep the meetings focused and constructive.

• Take the perspective of a shareholder as the CEO. Your job is to create value for shareholders by balancing the interests of different stakeholders.

• When delivering bad news to the board: communicate early, own the issues, apologize if needed, discuss forward-looking metrics, and come with a plan to correct course and mitigate impact. Don’t be defensive or make excuses.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

The issue: An unclear plan or roadmap to address an identified cause.

The solution:

• Determine the cause and create a clear plan or roadmap to address it.
• If the plan is not yet clear, figure out what information or help is needed to develop it. The text mentions that being honest and saying “I don’t know, we’ll look into it and get back to you” builds more trust than trying to wing it without a clear plan.

The story of Raj Gupta, a successful CEO, illustrates how high-purpose, high-performance leaders lead with clarity of purpose and create cultures grounded in strong values. This enables them to achieve extraordinary results for shareholders beyond just mastering the 4 CEO Genome behaviors.

Raj transformed his company Rohm and Haas through decisive actions while staying true to principles of rule of law and equal opportunity - the same values that enabled his own rise. He embedded those values into the company’s culture.

The key takeaway is that to effectively address issues and achieve exceptional results, CEOs and leaders need a clear purpose, plan and values that guide their decisions and actions. Being honest about gaps in knowledge and quickly developing a solid roadmap are also important.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

The text discusses the importance of decisiveness for CEOs and leaders. It notes that while high intelligence is valuable, CEOs need to be able to make quick decisions. Studies of CEO performance find that speed is often more important than precision. Examples are given of CEOs who were able to move quickly to seize opportunities or enact changes. Decisiveness and the ability to cut through complexity are seen as critical skills for effective leadership. The text advocates for making good-enough decisions and moving forward, rather than waiting for perfect information. It acknowledges that some hasty decisions will turn out poorly but argues that the benefits of speed often outweigh the risks of occasional mistakes. Leaders are encouraged to focus on making decisions quickly rather than anxiously seeking to optimize every choice. The key, according to the text, is learning from mistakes and improving decisions over time through experience and feedback. Speed, confidence and follow-through are portrayed as more important than perfection when it comes to executive decision making.

Here is a summary of the key points in the provided excerpt:

• Elena Lytkina Botelho is the co-author of the book. She shares her background to provide context for her unlikely success story.

• She was born in Russia at a time when private enterprise was illegal and could land you in prison. She grew up in a family of mathematicians where money was scarce.

• She made her way to the United States just as the Berlin Wall fell but while the Soviet Union was still intact, though not for much longer.

• She describes herself as an unlikely success story, based on how people have told her. Her upbringing in Russia and her family background differed greatly from the typical profile of success.

• However, she made her way to the U.S. and has clearly found success, as indicated by the reference to her possibly being on a Forbes list.

In summary, Elena shares her background to highlight how her unlikely origins and upbringing differ from the typical path to success, yet she has still achieved professional success, which people comment on. Her excerpt provides context for her journey and experience as a co-author of the book.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

The author describes an unlikely career trajectory driven by serendipitous events and skepticism from others. After graduating from college, the author faced doubts from family and colleagues about their abilities.

They initially struggled to master English when first joining Arthur Andersen’s Corporate Finance group as the only non Ivy League and foreign transfer. Colleagues questioned if the author could create financial models.

The author later attended Wharton business school but recruiters assumed they “must be really lucky” to be there.

The author then had an unlikely five year stint at McKinsey and Company as a strategy consultant before joining ghSMART.

The author aims to show readers how unlikely possibilities can become realities. The book brings quantitative data showing what differentiates successful leaders. The author applies their passion to ignite amazing leaders and positively impact companies, one employee at a time.

The key details:

• The author faced skepticism about their abilities from family, colleagues and recruiters throughout their career.

• The author struggled at first with English and model making at Arthur Andersen.

• The author attended Wharton business school after working at Arthur Andersen.

• The author had an unlikely career path spanning McKinsey and ghSMART.

• The book aims to show how unlikely possibilities can become realities and shows data differentiating leaders.

• The author wants to positively impact companies and employees.