CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest

The book CEO Excellence – by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller and Vikram Malhotra – is an in-depth guide to leadership and the key lessons from the world's most successful CEOs: how they think, set strategy and act to achieve extraordinary results in their organisations.

📖 About the book

This book is the result of in-depth research by the authors, who are senior partners at McKinsey & Company. They analysed data gathered on thousands of CEOs across many countries and industries, and interviewed in detail 67 of the most successful CEOs worldwide to discover what makes exceptional leaders so effective.

The book's aim is to explain the approaches, mindsets and practices that set excellent CEOs apart from the rest, offering practical guidance for leaders at every stage of their career – not only CEOs, but also executives and managers of organisations.

📌 The book's key ideas

The authors identify 6 mindsets or ways of thinking that characterise the most successful CEOs:

1. Setting the direction boldly – Excellent CEOs are not afraid of uncertainty; they formulate an ambitious vision and make big moves that create major impact.
2. Aligning the organisation – They know that "soft stuff" like culture and people matters as much as technical strategy, and they devote time and energy to making these elements real.
3. Mobilising leaders – Strong leadership focuses on how people work together and how to build a team that works in harmony towards a common goal.
4. Engaging the board – Excellent CEOs build a healthy, collaborative relationship with the board to support good decision-making.
5. Connecting with stakeholders – They start by understanding why the organisation matters to investors, customers and employees, and they build trust.
6. Managing personal effectiveness – The most successful CEOs focus on the tasks only they can do and delegate the rest, keeping their energy focused.