The Life Cycle of a CEO

The Myths and Truths of How Leaders Succeed

De: Claudius A Hildebrand, Robert J Stark

Narrado por: Alan Peterson

"A groundbreaking exploration of corporate leadership that challenges conventional wisdom." - Hubert Joly, former CEO of Best Buy

Being appointed CEO is seen by many as the pinnacle of success in business, but it is actually the first step in a journey of evolving stages requiring ongoing personal reinvention. In an unprecedented study of the individual performance of every twenty-first-century CEO of the S&P 500, combined with over 100 in-depth interviews of CEOs and board directors, Claudius A. Hildebrand and Robert J. Stark discovered the CEO Life Cycle, a series of five stages: launch, calibration, reinvention, complacency trap, and legacy. Each presents distinctive headwinds and tailwinds that require leaders to develop the fresh skills and strategies needed to thrive.

Successful CEOs are often portrayed as fully formed heroes endowed with exceptional leadership traits. Hildebrand and Stark break through the mythology to provide unique understanding, explaining how outstanding leaders surmount predictable challenges and develop the mental fortitude, emotional resilience, and self-awareness required to keep adapting.

Invaluable not only for CEOs to take their game to the next level of high performance but also for executives who envision themselves in the role, The Life Cycle of a CEO provides the unvarnished truth about what it takes to be a successful CEO.

Best Book on what it takes to prosper as CEO

Claudius and Robert have written a revolutionary book based on 20 years of data, analysis, pattern recognition, and interviews with CEOs. They have broken the CEO Life Cycle into five stages: launch, calibration, reinvention, complacency, trap, and legacy. They analyze each stage and give examples of what it takes to be successful at each stage so that a CEO tenure is not cut short. Most importantly, they talk about CEO interactions with the Board of Directors and how that can make or break a CEO. I wish I had a book like this in business school and highly recommend it for all aspiring CEOs.