Jim Fish, the CEO of Waste Management (WM), has carved a distinct path through the corporate world, beginning with an accounting degree from Arizona State University—a choice he describes as a “good boot camp” for life. Despite not finding his true career direction until the age of 50, Jim’s journey through firms like KPMG and America West Airlines, coupled with a transformative MBA experience at the University of Chicago, has equipped him with a unique blend of skills and a profound understanding of leadership dynamics. Under his stewardship, WM has navigated the complex challenges of modern ..read more

Beware of faulty models. Mental models help all of us think about our businesses and the world. Some of them are great aids to the CEO. But we must also beware of getting locked into old or faulty models. “We set a strategy and then we execute it” is a classic model that can actually prevent CEOs from seeing how deeply interlinked and reciprocal strategy and execution are.  “I make decisions after gaining consensus from the executive team” is a model that can drive CEOs to the brink as they struggle to get the group’s full approval.  And in large organizations, there’s a real danger ..read more

In the dynamic world of technology and business, few journeys have been as insightful and inspiring as those of Mark Knickrehm, CEO of Gainwell Technologies. Starting his collegiate journey at Northwestern without a clear vision, Mark embarked on a path that would ultimately shape him into a leader in technology, healthcare, and business. Mark’s career trajectory has been anything but conventional, from his early days of coding at Arthur Andersen to his strategic shift towards business and finance at McKinsey & Company and later at Accenture. His transition from serving on the board to le ..read more

Words deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little. —Tom Stoppard The words of a CEO have inordinate weight. Though you cannot interact personally with each employee, customer, and shareholder, these people all listen closely to what you say—and how you say it. Even subtle word choices send loud signals. These dynamics affect people’s perceptions of you, their understanding of what you expect from them, and even their faith in the company. I’ll be covering many examples in a series on the power of language in the CEO role. Today I want to foc ..read more

Barclay Berdan’s journey to CEO of Texas Health Resources unfolds a narrative far from the conventional corporate ascent. With roots deeply planted in biology at TCU and initial sights set on medical school, Berdan’s career trajectory took an unexpected turn toward hospital administration. This shift was not just a change in discipline but a profound redirection of his professional path, influenced by personal connections and a newfound interest in the operational side of healthcare. As I sat down with Berdan, I aimed to uncover the layers of his leadership journey, exploring the insights and ..read more

What are the responsibilities of a CEO? I get asked this question a lot, and it’s consistently one of the top search engine terms that leads people to this blog. It’s no wonder that people are curious: The CEO role is different from any other in business. Unless someone has been specifically groomed for the role, it is unlikely that they understand what the various CEO duties are. Chief executives fulfill many roles, but there are five responsibilities of a CEO. These are the core areas where CEOs should spend the majority of their time. If not, they are not likely to succeed in the job. Here ..read more

When you decided to go to Tulane and get a degree in English, what was the plan? To be perfectly candid, when I went to Tulane, my plan was all about playing tennis. I had this vision of riding the Green Wave [Tulane’s sports program] from college into the pro circuit. But I quickly learned, as many junior tennis players learn, that there comes a point where you max out your game, and for me, that realization came sooner than expected. It wasn’t until my sophomore and junior years, amid the distractions of New Orleans, that I even started to consider a path outside of sports. But by the time ..read more

Watermen, who look astern while they row the boat ahead . . . row hard after glory but with their face another way. —Plutarch Many CEOs of early-stage companies function as what I call Rowboat CEOs. They row hard while facing backward, and they don’t do a great job of looking over their shoulder at what’s ahead. In some ways, the rowboat approach is necessary for the startup leader. When you’re getting a business off the ground, you have to supply a lot of elbow grease yourself. You must look at the here-and-now, the “what just happened?,” so you can iterate fast. After all, the distant futur ..read more

This is a lesson countless CEOs learn the hard way. They aren’t transparent about something—the state of the business, why the CFO was let go, what that all-day executive offsite was about—only to find that employees have created their own narrative about it. And it’s usually a negative narrative fueled by fear and rumor. This is why great CEOs aren’t just honest with employees; they are proactively transparent. They nip speculation in the bud by telling people about issues that affect the company, both positive and negative. I recently got a great demonstration of how perception distorts rea ..read more

Exceptional leaders possess a relentless determination to accomplish what needs to be done and to achieve the best long-term results, regardless of the challenges they face. While most companies aspire to have such leaders at the helm, the current economic climate has forced some organizations to undergo layoffs and cost-cutting measures. However, hiring exceptional leaders during an economic downturn can offer unique advantages over waiting for the economy to recover. This shift affects almost all industries, but notably, the technology sector is garnering the loudest headlines this year, la ..read more