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Maximizing CEO effectiveness

The CEO role is like no other. Here's what you need to know to operate effectively and build an organization that creates value now and for the long term.
Article

The mindsets and practices of excellent CEOs

– The CEO’s job is as difficult as it is important. Here is a guide to how the best CEOs think and act.
Article

The digital-value guardian: CEOs and digital transformations
– The CEO is ultimately the only one who can shape and guide a successful digital transformation. Here’s the playbook.
Interview

Author Talks: What separates the best CEOs from the rest?
– Three McKinsey senior partners looked across more than 20 years’ worth of data on 7,800 CEOs from 3,500 public companies... across 70 countries and 24 industries to identify the mindsets that helped top chief executives deliver extraordinary impact.
Article

The CEO: Architect of the new operations agenda
– To thrive in a volatile and unpredictable postpandemic economy, companies need smarter, faster, more agile business operations.... That requires big changes—and commitment from the very top of the organization.
Podcast

In conversation: The CEO moment
– Corporate leaders are changing how they do their jobs in ways that may permanently transform the CEO role.
Video

Could the CEO moment become a CEO movement?
– The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way that many CEOs lead. In this series of videos, McKinsey’s global managing partner... Kevin Sneader shares his thoughts on the future of the CEO role.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The CEO moment: Leadership for a new era
– Challenged by the global pandemic, CEOs have made four shifts in the way they lead that hold great promise for both companies... and society. Will they build on this unique moment, or return to the ways of the past?
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

From a room called fear to a room called hope: A leadership agenda for troubled times
– Leaders can make a difference through personal accountability, caring, and “re-onboarding” of all their people.
Article

The toughest leadership test
– CEO microhabits can help leaders seize the moment, stay ahead, and take care of themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Podcast

What sets the world’s best CEOs apart
– Are you a great CEO, or just a good one? New research shows that the leaders who truly excel have a set of distinctive mindsets... and practices.
Article

The CEO’s new technology agenda
– Technology performance has become critical to business success. Here’s how a CEO can focus the technology function on a... company’s strategic priorities.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Bias Busters: Getting both sides of the story
– How can the CEO break employees’ silence and get the critical input needed to make the right strategic moves?
Podcast

The diversity opportunity for new CEOs
– New McKinsey research has uncovered a fascinating correlation between gender diversity and corporate performance.
Article

The wisdom of transformations: How successful CEOs think about change
– What works and what doesn’t, from those who know.
Article

Leading your organization to responsible AI
– Company values can offer a compass for the appropriate application of AI, but CEOs must provide employees with further guidance.
Podcast

How leading CEOs manage their middle tenures
– Five principles are useful in guiding CEOs in their third, fourth, and fifth years on the job.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Closing the gender gap: A missed opportunity for new CEOs
– Many new CEOs reshuffle their top teams, but surprisingly few make them more diverse. Can we do better?
Podcast

Leading for the long term
– Successful CEOs combine winning strategies with compelling stories and constructive engagement with shareholders.

How Successful CEOs Manage Their Middle Act
Blog Post

The CEO’s act 2
– How the best leaders keep the magic going in their middle tenures
Book Excerpt - McKinsey Quarterly

An agenda for the talent-first CEO
– In tumultuous times, a company’s talent is its most valuable and reliable asset. What does it take to lead an organization... that truly unleashes its human capital?
Article

Why you need a CTO—and how to make her successful
– Feeling unprepared for technical disruption? A well-structured role for a chief technology officer is a first line of defense.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Why digital transformation is now on the CEO’s shoulders
– Big data, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence hold such disruptive power that they have inverted the dynamics... of technology leadership.
Article

A CEO guide for avoiding the ten traps that derail digital transformations
– Transforming your business has risks. Successful leaders know how to spot them and avoid them.
Commentary - McKinsey Quarterly

Putting lifelong learning on the CEO agenda
– In an open letter to business leaders, a Harvard Business School professor and a learning engineer at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative... present an emphatic case to make learning a corporate priority.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Memo to the CEO: Are you the source of workplace dysfunction?
– Rudeness and bullying are rife, says Stanford professor Bob Sutton. Wise leaders figure out how to fix their teams and organizations;... and they start by taking a long look in the mirror.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

What’s missing in leadership development?
– Only a few actions matter, and they require the CEO’s attention.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The CEO’s guide to competing through HR
– Technological tools provide a new opportunity for the function to reach its potential and drive real business value.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

A deal-making strategy for new CEOs
– New CEOs typically raise the tempo of transactions at first, then the pace slows down. Is that costly?
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

How to accelerate gender diversity on boards
– Slow progress in adding more women to boards has dominated the conversation. But tips from standout companies are more likely... to inspire others to take firmer action.
Blog Post

How insider CEOs can gain the outsider’s edge
– Outsiders continue to make inroads and land leadership positions. How can insiders cultivate a valuable external perspective?
Executive Briefing - McKinsey Quarterly

The CEO guide to boards
– Greater responsibilities require increased commitments of time and energy.
Article

The board perspective
– A collection of McKinsey insights focusing on boards of directors.
Article - Mint

The centred CEO getting the balances right
– Running an organization requires balancing the interests of varied stakeholders, balancing short vs long term priorities and achieving... work life balance.
Survey

Toward a value-creating board
– The amount of time board directors spend on their work and commit to strategy is rising. But in a new survey, few respondents... rate their boards as effective at most tasks or report good feedback or training practices.
Article - Mint

A CEO’s guide to building a strong organization
– It is important for leaders to learn to side-step common failure modes, be aware of their own biases and not let these influence... their decisions.
Article

How a CEO sets up the CMO for success
– Erwin van Laethem, CEO of Dutch energy company Essent (an RWE business), explains how marketing helped lead a commercial transformation... and what he did to set his CMO up to succeed.
Article - Mint

How CEOs can manage organizational and personal energy
– See where you are on your own personal goals, and introspect!about what enhances and depletes your energy.
Article - Mint

How can CEOs choose the best-suited operating model?
– CEOs need to decide where to spend their energy.
Article - Mint

How CEOs learn
– Learning from peers, turning to mentors, and practicing new skills are the three modes in which CEOs renew themselves.
Article - Mint

Creating meaning: A pillar of the CEO mandate
– Being a ‘meaning-maker’ is one of the most important —and least understood—tasks of a CEO.
Article - Mint

Mastering the CEO’s mandate
– Managing a changing mandate requires developing a versatile engagement approach.
Article - Mint

Leading in the 21st Century
– The challenges that CEOs face today are more complex when compared to the challenges of even a decade ago.
Article

The CEO’s role in leading transformation
– The CEO helps a transformation succeed by communicating its significance, modeling the desired changes, building a strong top... team, and getting personally involved.
Book Excerpt - McKinsey Quarterly

Developing leaders in a business
– In his book The Will to Lead, Marvin Bower, McKinsey’s managing partner from 1950 to 1967, urges senior managers to abandon... command-and-control structures and adopt a program to develop leaders, starting with themselves. In this excerpt, he explores the attributes of leadership.

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