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The New CEO

Lessons from CEOs on How to Start Well and Perform Quickly (Minus the Common Mistakes)

Ty Wiggins

Wiley, 2024

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Even decades of leadership experience don’t guarantee a smooth transition to the role of CEO, a job more complex and consequential than any outsider can imagine. Leadership consultant Ty Wiggins warns that first-time CEOs are taking on a complex role that makes them responsible for the welfare of the company, its customers, and its employees and their careers. Drawing on interviews with successful executives, Wiggins offers a handbook of strategies for dealing with immediate challenges in your first few months on the job – including instilling your principles into the company’s ethos, working with the board, and building a leadership team.

Summary

First-time CEOs are in for a shock. Expect the unexpected.

New CEOs usually have months or years of preparation. And yet, as PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta notes, no one can truly prepare for the top spot’s complexity.

When you assume the role of CEO, you become personally responsible for maintaining the foundations of your company – its strategy, financial health, and long-term outlook – plus the welfare of your employees, stakeholders, and their families. Your decisions also will have a significant impact on the firm’s suppliers, partners, and customers.

Some CEOs report that the biggest surprise about stepping into the corner office is how alone a top leader can feel. As a CEO, you will interact with people constantly, but you will no longer have peer-to-peer relationships in which you can hash out issues candidly. Instead, you must guard every utterance, because everyone in the organization will scrutinize everything you say and do.

Another surprise is the enormous increase in demands on your time. People will compete for your attention, even when you’re in the middle of contending with complicated, consequential issues. Therefore, treat...

About the Author

Ty Wiggins is the global head of the CEO and Executive Transition Practice at Russell Reynolds Associates.

The New CEO

Lessons from CEOs on How to Start Well and Perform Quickly (Minus the Common Mistakes)

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First-time CEOs are in for a shock. Expect the unexpected.

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