The loneliest job? How top CEOs manage dilemmas and vulnerability

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The loneliest job? How top CEOs manage dilemmas and vulnerability

By Gautam Kumra et al., | McKinsey & Company | August 7, 2024

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For many leaders, assuming the role of CEO is a key career goal and the culmination of decades of hard work. The CEO role is also among the most challenging and demanding positions in any organization—particularly during times of uncertainty and upheaval.   Often, these uncertainties are rooted in one or more of five common dilemmas. Each dilemma concerns a time when CEOs are required to strike a balance between multiple desirable outcomes, which may be—or appear to be—incompatible. 

1. Preserving the core while innovating for the future.  A CEO can pursue thoughtful and strategic innovation to grow the company without taking excessive risks, while honoring its history and preserving assets, value, and a legacy of success.
2. Delivering short-term results while investing in long-term performance.  Where short- and long-term goals compete, CEOs that opt to steer a steady long-term course may be positioned to withstand other pressures. Building and maintaining wider support in the chosen long-term strategy can help CEOs navigate pressure.  In many cases, however, short- and long-term goals can be distinct or even self-reinforcing.
3. Managing a team of individual stars versus maximizing collective performance.  A key could be anyone who significantly compromises the organization’s values must be let go even if they are a star performer—and ideally, in a very visible way so the organization gets the message.
4. Empowering others while maintaining control of outcomes.  CEOs can decide where to retain control and where to delegate based on the specific context.
5. Becoming fully immersed in the CEO role while retaining personal identity and sense of purpose.  Tips and tricks aside, the CEOs who said they had achieved a balance shared a common attribute: they had found their North Star. Having a sense of mission enabled them to maintain balance, clarity, and purpose.

The following takeaways may help CEOs and aspiring leaders navigate the inherent challenges of their roles:  embrace a ‘both/and’ rather than an ‘either/or’ mindset, find your support network and allow yourself to be vulnerable, continually reassess your priorities and keep an open mind, and carve out regular time to reflect and reconnect with your mission.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. The CEO role is among the most challenging and demanding positions in any organization—particularly during times of uncertainty and upheaval.
2. Often, these uncertainties are rooted in one or more of five common dilemmas. Preserving the core while innovating for the future.  Delivering short-term results while investing in long-term performance.  Managing a team of individual stars versus maximizing collective performance. Empowering others while maintaining control of outcomes. And becoming fully immersed in the CEO role while retaining personal identity and sense of purpose.
3. The following may help CEOs and aspiring leaders navigate the inherent challenges of their roles:  embrace a ‘both/and’ rather than an ‘either/or’ mindset, find your support network and allow yourself to be vulnerable, continually reassess your priorities and keep an open mind, and carve out regular time to reflect and reconnect with your mission.

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Topics:  Leadership, Dilemmas, Purpose, Work-life balance