Nicole N.'s Key Ideas from CEO Excellence
by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra

While maintaining vision and direction, outstanding CEOs lead with pragmatic realism firmly grounded in facts, data, and clear thinking. They test assumptions through experimentation and make decisions based on logic and proof.

Rather than chasing fads, they pursue progress through evidence-based iteration and continuous improvement.

• Transformative CEOs challenge the status quo rather than clinging to it.
• They cultivate relentless tenacity, hunger and competitive intensity to keep pushing the organization into new frontiers.
• Change is framed as opportunity, not threat.
• Complacency is the enemy.
• Internal disruption is continuous.

The best CEOs cultivate healthy obsessiveness for delivering superior value to customers and excellence in quality and outcomes.

This obsession spreads top-down when modeled consistently through the CEO's humility, clarity of purpose and high standards.

Leading CEOs foster the courage, creativity, collaboration and risk-taking required for innovation to flourish. They build safe ecosystems for people to experiment, fail fast, and push boundaries.

Constraints are removed, agility encouraged. Ideas can come from anywhere.

Great CEOs balance toughness with compassion. They listen deeply, develop people's potential, and guide with emotional intelligence.

Their humanness and care for people inspires loyalty during difficult times. They know serving others leads to greatness.

Sustainable CEOs play the long game, balancing short-term performance with responsible environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices that build sustained excellence.

They care about all stakeholders and measure multidimensional value.

• Adaptive CEOs view change as an opportunity to progress, not a threat.
• They perpetually renew strategies, cultures and organizations to keep pace with market evolutions.
• Change is embraced, not resisted.
• Continuous improvement matters more than past successes.