Scott Keller

Carolyn Dewar

Vikram Malhotra

From the world’s most influential management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, an insight-packed, revelatory look at how the best CEOs do their jobs based on extensive interviews with today’s most successful corporate leaders—including chiefs at Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, General Motors, and Sony. Being a CEO at any of the world’s largest companies is among the most challenging roles in business. Billions, and even trillions, are at stake—and the fates of tens of thousands of employees often hang in the balance. Yet, even when “can’t miss” high-achievers win the top job, very few excel. Thirty percent of Fortune 500 CEOs last fewer than three years, and two out of five new CEOs are perceived to be failing within eighteen months. For those who shoulder the burden of being the one on whom everyone counts, a manual for excellence is sorely needed. To identify the 21st century’s best CEOs, the authors of CEO Excellence started with a pool of over 2400 public company CEOs. Extensive screening distilled that group into an elite corps, sixty-seven of whom agreed to in-depth, multi-hour interviews. Among those sharing their views: Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Reed Hastings (Netflix), Kazuo Hirai (Sony), Ken Chenault (American Express), Mary Barra (GM), and Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (Nestlé). What came out of those frank, no-holds-barred conversations is a rich array of mindsets and actions that deliver outsized performance. Compelling, practical, and unprecedented in scope, CEO Excellence is a treasure trove of wisdom from today’s most elite business leaders.

The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest

CEO Excellence

In the bestselling tradition of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Jim Collins’s Good to Great, and Ray Dalio’s Principles, the world’s most influential consulting firm McKinsey & Company presents a deep dive into how the best CEOs do their jobs based on extensive interviews with today’s most successful corporate leaders from iconic companies such as Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, General Motors, and Sony. Being a CEO at any of the world’s largest companies is one of the most challenging, mysterious, misunderstood, and important roles in the world today. The CEOs of the two thousand largest global companies account for more than $40 trillion in annual revenues (more than twice the size of the world’s largest economy) and employ 68 million people. Yet even when they reach the position of CEO, very few excel in the role. Thirty percent of Fortune 500 CEOs last fewer than three years, and two out of five new CEOs are perceived to be failing within eighteen months of taking the job. A select few, however, rise to become the best of the best—creating superior value for their stakeholders and becoming role models in leadership. Now, in CEO Excellence, the experienced consultants at world-famous McKinsey & Company have used a rigorous method to identify the 21st century’s best CEOs. Starting with a pool of over 2,400 public company CEOs, the top 200 were eventually selected, and a statistically valid sampling of those—sixty-five—agreed to in-depth, multi-hour interviews. Some of the names include: Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Reed Hastings (Netflix), Kaz Hirai (Sony), Ken Chenault (American Express), Mary Barra (GM), and Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (Nestlé). The authors both demystify the CEO role and provide deep insight into the mindsets and actions that deliver outsized performance. For example, the best leaders focus less on beating the competition and more on reframing what’s possible. While working with others, they’re far quicker to ask questions than provide answers. And in decision making, they emphasize dialog as much as data. Compelling, practical, and unprecedented in scope, this is a treasure trove of wisdom from today’s most elite business leaders.

CEO EXCELLENCE, by McKinsey senior partners Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller and Vikram Malhotra is a unique and timely business book which will draw on 25 years of research and interviews with top leaders of some of the world's most respected companies. The resulting book will demonstrate that while the role of CEO is unique within every organisation, it is surprisingly similar across companies even in disparate industries. Furthermore, the best CEOs approach their role with distinct mindsets and practices. This book is about truly world class leadership, showing how the best CEOs think, adapt and approach challenges (never more relevant than in this extraordinary time). It will show why a brilliant CEO can have such an immense impact, and demonstrate how to model yourself and your performance on the very best - so that your turn to lead comes sooner, and is more successful.

Carolyn Dewar

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