The CEO arguably has more potential for influence than anyone else in a company. But maximizing the role’s potential is extremely difficult. Just thinking about the responsibilities is enough to trigger spontaneous exhaustion. The CEO is tasked with forming a company’s strategies and then marshaling the resources to deliver on them. 

And while other C-suite officers and employees help execute strategy, the CEO stands alone as the person ultimately responsible for its success or failure. What the CEO controls typically accounts for 45 percent of a company’s total performance. But these days, the role is more difficult—and important—than ever. 

Industries are being transformed at a pace not seen before, and business leaders need to predict and respond to those changes with quicker-than-ever decision making. Not everyone succeeds. Just three in five newly appointed CEOs live up to performance expectations in the first 18 months on the job. And only one in 12 companies moves from being an average to a top-quintile performer over a ten-year period. 

But even as the times change, some fundamentals of leadership remain the same. According to decades of work in the field and resulting insights, CEOs will always be asked to set the direction, align the organization, and mobilize leaders within a company. They’re going to have to deal with boards of directors and manage stakeholders. And they have to manage themselves in a way that achieves and maintains consistent excellence.