Caught up in a whirlwind can’t catch my breath
Knee deep in hot water broke out in a cold sweat
Can’t catch a turtle in this rat race
Feels like I’m losin’ time at a breakneck pace

“Tightrope”
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

The American CEO walks a tightrope daily…many times blindfolded and without a net. The job of balancing the often competing interests of a company’s constituents is so challenging that the tenure of a newly minted CEO averages around five years. Why is it that our most successful businesspeople, individuals who have been wildly successful at every other position in their career, often fail when they get to the CEO chair? My contention is that the CEO position is so different that very few people are prepared for it, no matter how well they’ve performed in other executive roles. Few spend any time studying for the job, and even if they try, the CEO training in this country is woefully inadequate to prepare executives to transition into the modern-day CEO role. I created this blog to address the challenges of current and aspiring CEOs and show how they can achieve balance walking the CEO tightrope.

What do you think about the status of CEO performance and training in this country? What topics would you like to see me cover on this blog? Please contact me with your thoughts, ideas, and questions.