It’s not easy being a CEO. In fact, it’s the most challenging role in business. The scope, gravity, responsibility, accountability, and exposure of the position are unparalleled.

Despite its complexity, it's also often hailed as the most rewarding and life-affirming move of an executive’s career. It’s a time when you can truly execute your vision and put to use everything you’ve learned up until now.

But, to set yourself up for success, how do you approach your first few days and months in the role?

What are the common surprises new CEOs experience? Why is it so important to get your CEO transition right, and what are the risks if you don’t?

In this episode of Leadership Lounge, we put these questions and more to Ty Wiggins, leadership advisor and author of our latest book, The New CEO: How to Start Well and Perform Quickly (Minus the Common Mistakes), and two other RRA leadership advisors, Laura Sanderson and Justus O’ Brien, who partnered with Ty on the book. Here, our guests share lessons that will help any executive get off to a strong start as a new leader.

Tune in to discover why it’s so important to act fast when assessing and building your team, how you can avoid loneliness taking root as a new CEO, and why aiming for perfection isn’t sustainable.

On today’s Redefiners episode, we talk with Natalie Robyn, the first ever CEO of the International Automobile Federation (or the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile or our French listeners). The FIA is the governing body for world motor sport, including Formula One, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and some of the world’s most exciting motorsports races on and off the track. Natalie shares her leadership story, shifting from auto production at Volvo, Nissan, and DaimlerChrysler, to auto racing. She talks about how she and the FIA team manage the challenges and complexity involved in managing 24 races in 21 countries on five continents, working with a variety of stakeholders, local politics and regulations to make it all happen successfully and safely.

Natalie talks about how the FIA parses through the more than three terabytes of data per Formula One car per race weekend to share data between competitions, which helps foster innovation and safety. All that data also helps inform sustainability as well, as Natalie outlines how the FIA plans to achieve their commitment to net zero emissions by 2030.

We’ll also hear from Dee Fitzgerald, a Managing Director in our Sydney office, who highlights how important it is for CEOs to have the right top team around them, and the five actions CEOs can take to maximize C-suite performance.

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like these Redefiners episodes:

• The Business of Football with Los Angeles Rams COO Kevin Demoff
• Outwork the Competition: Jordan Brand’s Winning Strategy with President Sarah Mensah
• Transforming the Energy Sector with Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli

Today’s CEOs are not just trusted to deliver on profits and lead their organizations forward. They’re also tasked with driving broader societal change.

For the past few years, Edelman’s Trust Barometer has consistently found that business leaders are the most trusted group in society, ahead of the media and government. But with great power comes great responsibility.

Society has now come to expect leaders to take a public position on an increasing number of complex issues—from climate catastrophes and geopolitical flare-ups, to changes in legislation and social justice movements like Black Lives Matter.

But, taking a stand can carry huge risks. When is the right time to raise your head above the parapet? How can you best prepare and position your response to ensure your personal and professional reputation remains intact? What would we advise CEOs to say—and not say?

In this episode of Leadership Lounge, we put these questions and more to four of our esteemed leadership advisors: Ty Wiggins, Kimberly Archer, Richard Davis, and Laura Mantoura. Here, our guests shed some light on how leaders can navigate this minefield and find a path forward that’s right for them—and their organization.