Management & Leadership
![Carolyn Dewar - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B09P85P6HB.jpg)
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CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest
From the world's most influential management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, an insight-packed, revelatory look at how the best CEOs do their jobs based on extensive interviews with today's most successful corporate leaders-including chiefs at Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, General Motors, and Sony.
Being a CEO at any of the world's largest companies is among the most challenging roles in business. Billions, and even trillions, are at stake-and the fates of tens of thousands of employees often hang in the balance. Yet, even when "can't miss" high-achievers win the top job, very few excel. Thirty percent of Fortune 500 CEOs last fewer than three years, and two out of five new CEOs are perceived to be failing within eighteen months.
For those who shoulder the burden of being the one on whom everyone counts, a manual for excellence is sorely needed.
To identify the 21st century's best CEOs, the authors of CEO Excellence started with a pool of over 2400 public company CEOs. Extensive screening distilled that group into an elite corps, sixty-seven of whom agreed to in-depth, multi-hour interviews. Among those sharing their views: Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Reed Hastings (Netflix), Kazuo Hirai (Sony), Ken Chenault (American Express), Mary Barra (GM), and Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (Nestlé).
What came out of those frank, no-holds-barred conversations is a rich array of mindsets and actions that deliver outsized performance. Compelling, practical, and unprecedented in scope, CEO Excellence is a treasure trove of wisdom from today's most elite business leaders.
Being a CEO at any of the world's largest companies is among the most challenging roles in business. Billions, and even trillions, are at stake-and the fates of tens of thousands of employees often hang in the balance. Yet, even when "can't miss" high-achievers win the top job, very few excel. Thirty percent of Fortune 500 CEOs last fewer than three years, and two out of five new CEOs are perceived to be failing within eighteen months.
For those who shoulder the burden of being the one on whom everyone counts, a manual for excellence is sorely needed.
To identify the 21st century's best CEOs, the authors of CEO Excellence started with a pool of over 2400 public company CEOs. Extensive screening distilled that group into an elite corps, sixty-seven of whom agreed to in-depth, multi-hour interviews. Among those sharing their views: Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Reed Hastings (Netflix), Kazuo Hirai (Sony), Ken Chenault (American Express), Mary Barra (GM), and Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (Nestlé).
What came out of those frank, no-holds-barred conversations is a rich array of mindsets and actions that deliver outsized performance. Compelling, practical, and unprecedented in scope, CEO Excellence is a treasure trove of wisdom from today's most elite business leaders.
Editorial Reviews
Wall Street Journal Bestseller
"CEO Excellence pulls back the curtain on how some of the world's greatest business leaders have achieved success. Readers from the classroom to the boardroom will find valuable lessons they can apply to their own careers."
-Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and cofounder of Blackstone
"McKinsey's access to the best corporate CEOs has produced a remarkable and highly readable analysis of what makes leaders' jobs so difficult in this age of constant social media focus, shareholder activism, great board involvement, enhanced ESG needs, growing global challenges, and increased government oversight. Any smart CEO looking to not just survive but thrive would do well to read and heed this book's insights."
-David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group and New York Times bestselling author of How to Lead
"Interviews CEOs (refreshingly, not just the usual suspects), finds out what makes them tick, and formulates a set of maxims and observations…A satisfying handbook for future moguls."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Leadership is something you learn first by watching and then by doing-and the best leaders never stop learning, which is why this is a book for those who want to sharpen their skills in leading organizations to higher levels."
– Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and mayor of New York, 2002-2013
"Do we need another book on leadership at the top? Yes! Having created the world's first school for incumbent CEOs and studied thousands over forty-five years, I can confirm that Dewar, Keller, and Malhotra provide valuable fresh insight. Instead of selecting clients or cronies to study, they were guided by analytic screening of performance on many key dimensions. Their conclusions show how CEOs shape culture and are shaped by it. By objectively examining character and context together, they transcend vague lists of virtues and reveal that leadership impact is very different from the boastful, backslapping self-promotion we see too often. This book provides leaders at all career stages insight on how to complement and enhance their respective styles."
-Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Founder and President of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute and Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies at the Yale School of Management
"This is a remarkable book by three top-notch business gurus. Vik, Scott, and Carolyn have taken a plunge into the minds of the world's finest CEOs, reached deep into their psyches, retrieved the rarest pea...
"CEO Excellence pulls back the curtain on how some of the world's greatest business leaders have achieved success. Readers from the classroom to the boardroom will find valuable lessons they can apply to their own careers."
-Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and cofounder of Blackstone
"McKinsey's access to the best corporate CEOs has produced a remarkable and highly readable analysis of what makes leaders' jobs so difficult in this age of constant social media focus, shareholder activism, great board involvement, enhanced ESG needs, growing global challenges, and increased government oversight. Any smart CEO looking to not just survive but thrive would do well to read and heed this book's insights."
-David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group and New York Times bestselling author of How to Lead
"Interviews CEOs (refreshingly, not just the usual suspects), finds out what makes them tick, and formulates a set of maxims and observations…A satisfying handbook for future moguls."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Leadership is something you learn first by watching and then by doing-and the best leaders never stop learning, which is why this is a book for those who want to sharpen their skills in leading organizations to higher levels."
– Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and mayor of New York, 2002-2013
"Do we need another book on leadership at the top? Yes! Having created the world's first school for incumbent CEOs and studied thousands over forty-five years, I can confirm that Dewar, Keller, and Malhotra provide valuable fresh insight. Instead of selecting clients or cronies to study, they were guided by analytic screening of performance on many key dimensions. Their conclusions show how CEOs shape culture and are shaped by it. By objectively examining character and context together, they transcend vague lists of virtues and reveal that leadership impact is very different from the boastful, backslapping self-promotion we see too often. This book provides leaders at all career stages insight on how to complement and enhance their respective styles."
-Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Founder and President of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute and Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies at the Yale School of Management
"This is a remarkable book by three top-notch business gurus. Vik, Scott, and Carolyn have taken a plunge into the minds of the world's finest CEOs, reached deep into their psyches, retrieved the rarest pea...
Readers Top Reviews
Mark P. McDonald
There are many books that tell you what CEOs should be thinking, few books actually allow CEOs to speak in their own words. CEO Excellence contains the wisdom and experience of more than 60 successful CEOs selected by McKinsey. The book provides strong insights and experiences from leaders who have transformed modern business. Highly recommended to read the boo to understand the challenges facing the leaders of leading organizations. Read this book for the quotes, the descriptions, the situations and less for the formal McKinsey style frameworks. Set the Direction - Vision - Strategy - Resource Allocation Align the Organization - Culture - Organization Design - Talent Mobilize through Leaders - Composition - Teamwork - Operating Rhythm Manage Personal Effectiveness - Time and Energy - Leadership Model - Perspective Connect with Shareholders - Social Purpose - Interaction - Moments of Truth Engage the Board - Relationships - Capabilities - Meetings
John W. PearsonMa
Yikes! According to the new book, “CEO Excellence,” the authors report that “Thirty percent of Fortune 500 CEOs last fewer than three years, and two out of five new CEOs are perceived to be failing within eighteen months.” If you’re a CEO—perhaps slipping off that perilous perch—take two aspirins and call someone in the morning. Or…just read this remarkably well-researched book by three senior partners at McKinsey & Company. Subtitled, “The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest,” this gem is an early contender for my 2022 book-of-the-year honors. Two Options for Studying the BEST Leaders: • Option 1: Read 20 leadership books. • Option 2: Read “CEO Excellence” (the equivalent of 20 books). MY TOP-20 LIST. Here are my Top-20 takeaways from the book: #1. EXCEPTIONALLY PRACTICAL. Trust me—this outperforms any book you’ve read recently. I made 51 notes, but I could have made 251. Jam-packed with serious CEO thinking—the authors looked at 2,400 CEOs of public company, then zeroed in on 67—using their criteria for the “best leaders.” (The appendix includes 36 pages of CEO bios.) After “in-depth, multihour interviews,” this book popped out. You’ll love it. #2. MANAGE BY MILESTONES. The book’s “six mindsets” launches with the Direction-Setting Mindset, “Be Bold.” In Chapter 3, CEOs are encouraged to “Act Like an Outsider” when allocating resources. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase (who is quoted often), urges CEOs to “manage by milestones (not annual budgets).” The authors note, “In essence, Dimon’s approach is never to let an annual budget cycle get in the way of making good business decisions.” #3. CORPORATE FUNERALS & HALL OF FAILURES! In the section, “Kill as Much as You Create,” the book describes how savvy CEOs eliminate sacred cows and dead horses. One CEO “set up a ‘Hall of Failures’ where the company organized funerals for failed projects. The idea was to show that trying and failing would be honored as long as lessons were learned and shared…” The ceremony also communicated “that no more resources would be allocated to the effort—that the projects were dead.” #4. PRACTICAL WORKSHEETS. In my first browse through “CEO Excellence,” I discovered three practical worksheets in the appendix (nine pages)—worth the price of the book: • Worksheet 1: My CEO Mandate: What is the degree of change you aspire to lead? (Rate the six mindsets on a scale of 1 to 5.) • Worksheet 2: How Am I Leading Today? (Rate how you’re currently leading, within the six mindsets: Challenged? Able? Excellent?) • Worksheet 3: Prioritizing Improvement Areas and Related Actions (five assessments/action steps) #5. ENGAGE THE BOARD (Mindset #4). The worksheet asks CEOs to rate their engagement with the board in three areas: Relationships, Capabilities, Meetings. You can rate your a...
Kindle John W. P
Excellent for any leader not just CEOs Only business book I can say is definitely better than this one is high output management
J NixonKindle Jo
This is the fact-based guide to executive leadership I’ve been waiting for. I think it will quickly become essential on any business leader’s (manager and above) reading list and the foundation for business-school syllabi on leadership.
Vandy FWJ NixonKi
My favorite part of CEO Excellence is the many stories from the best CEOs of the last two decades. It really feels like stepping into a masterclass, learning how each of these CEOs approached the role. My personal favorite is the idea of creating a “to be” list alongside your to do list, consciously choosing how you want to show up as a leader every day. (A close second is the idea of focusing that to do list on “what only you can do” vs. “what needs to be done”.) Strongly recommend that anyone in a leadership role read a copy! No matter what you do, there are lessons here for everyone.
