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So You Want to Be the CEO
Book

So You Want to Be the CEO

Proven Principles for Aspiring CEOS Based on Over Twenty Years of Experience

Barbara Wilby
Barbara Wilby, 2025
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9

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Becoming a CEO is more than a promotion — it’s a transformation of identity, mindset, and skill. Author Barbara Wilby distills more than 20 years of experience into a practical roadmap for aspiring leaders. She balances self-awareness, strategic insight, and real-world preparation to provide a helpful pathway for the transition into a top corporate job — whether you’re reaching the top of the ladder within your organization or taking the lead somewhere new. Wilby’s actionable guidance shows that leadership at the top is as much about inner mastery as external strategy.

Summary

Transformation over title: Leadership is about evolving who you are, not just what position you hold.

Today, nearly all aspiring CEOs have stellar résumés. But as all CEO candidates know, having top-flight executive experience is simply table stakes. When boards evaluate a potential CEO, what matters most is the candidate’s character and level of self-leadership.

As a CEO candidate, ask yourself: Do you know your strengths? Do you work well with others in high-pressure situations? Could you successfully bridge the gap between becoming your organization’s absolute authority and remaining an approachable human being? Do you have the confidence to exhibit both vulnerability and authority to those who work for you?

First, you have to survive the selection process to become CEO, and then you will need a well-conceived, well-developed transition plan detailing your “activities and dates and deliverables” for your first three months in office – or longer, for larger organizations.

New CEOs’ transition plans must be explicit and clear about their organizational priorities. They must tailor their action plan precisely to the company’s current context...

About the Author

Barbara Wilby, a former McKinsey consultant specializing in cultural transformation, founded Corporate Wisdom, a leadership development consultancy. Its senior consultant, Campbell Forsyth, also contributed to the development of this book.

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