CEO Playbook

The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors That Transform Ordinary People Into World-Class Leaders – Elena L. Botelho and Kim R. Powell – (Currency)

Based on decades of experience, countless hours of direct interaction/interviewing leaders and in depth research culled from what is likely one of the most comprehensive leadership databases, Elena Botelho and Kim Powell have boiled things down to the secret sauce that goes into the making of a CEO in their new book The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors That Transform Ordinary People Into World-Class Leaders.

The results are a playbook that is about more than just what it takes to get there, but also about succeeding when you get there. Along the way, The CEO Next Door, will have you thinking about the CEOs that you have crossed paths with or have worked with/for. Botelho and Powell have utilized evidence based research to develop the CEO Genome Project that identifies the 4 behaviors that are the building blocks of a CEO.

They include:

·         Decisiveness

·         Engaging for impact

·         Relentless Reliability

·         Adapting boldly

This list had me focusing on the CEOs I have worked with and advised over the past couple of decades. I found the chapter on relentless reliability the most intriguing, notably the list of underperforming CEO types because I had worked for The Seagull, who dropped piles of emails seemingly out of the blue; The Fireman, who managed crisis by crisis and The Hothead, who’s reaction changed based on today’s mood.

The CEO Next Door, goes a long way towards busting some of the myths that have been built up over time surrounding the proverbial corner office. It also goes a long way to help those who either have made the jump or aspire to the C-Suite with actionable steps that can be put into practice at whatever stage you are in, in your career arc.