Abstract
“I was around John Browne for quite some time, when he was in charge,” says Bob Dudley (UK, BP). “I saw everything, but I could not understand the board-CEO dynamics, the importance of succession and compensation issues or how to deal with them.”
There’s only so much that aspiring CEOs can rehearse before taking the job. Their development will continue once they’re in the spotlight on the centre stage. And they’ll grow into their CEO-specific roles much more quickly if they understand exactly what’s required before they start work.
The trouble is, there’s a vast industry dedicated to making business leadership seem highly complex. Business schools, strategic consultancies, headhunting firms, training providers, coaching practices… they’re all built on it. Fortunately, however, our 20 CEOs see their role in much simpler terms. And it reduces to four essential—but interrelated—tasks: envisioning, nominating, enabling and managing crisis.
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Some Further Reading
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Shekshnia, S., Kravchenko, K., Williams, E. (2018). Class 6: Roles—The Four Essential Functions of the CEO. In: CEO School. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7865-1_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7865-1_6
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