How To Build Something Meaningful
With alcohol consumption declining, many Maine brewers were sitting idle for days at time. Then CEO Jen Millard built a new opportunity for the industry.
Chief Executive
Since 1977, Chief Executive has been the independent voice of the CEO community, helping America’s business leaders tackle their most pressing issues and plan for future growth.
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Analysis, research and perspectives from CEOs and experts.
With alcohol consumption declining, many Maine brewers were sitting idle for days at time. Then CEO Jen Millard built a new opportunity for the industry.
Great teams aren’t powered by solo heroes—they win when people over-communicate under pressure, drop the ego and rotate in and out of the lead so the whole system can move faster together.
What looks like alignment in the boardroom is often unresolved strategy in disguise, setting execution up to fail months before it begins.
For many CEOs, leaving well is the most important and lasting leadership responsibility they will ever perform.
Your board won’t be your AI savior but can help you prepare.
The CEOs best prepared for the increasingly volatile future are the ones with the clearest operating logic, and the discipline to make every major decision fit it.
CEO Confidence Index
Chief Executive’s latest poll finds CEOs slightly more confident in current conditions, even as geopolitics, inflation and policy uncertainty divide expectations for the year ahead.
Featured
Digital version of the latest articles published in Chief Executive.
Nine cities and 14 events over four blurry months. With a moment to exhale, here are a handful of ideas that continue to stick with me.
The CEOs who thrive from here won’t be the ones who adopted AI most aggressively. They will be the ones who built organizations that could develop judgment, exercise it at speed and embed it into the systems making decisions around them. Five key questions about your organization—and yourself—will likely determine your future.
Against a backdrop of accelerating disruption across technology, geopolitics and talent markets, making ever-faster, high-stakes decisions with increasingly imperfect information is the norm. Here’s how six CEOs are adapting.
In a populist moment for America, standing your ground is the only strategy.
A playbook for a fast-transforming world.
Jim Collins’ most ambitious research project yet tackles the biggest questions of all.
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Explore articles by category.
Great teams aren’t powered by solo heroes—they win when people over-communicate under pressure, drop the ego and rotate in and out of the lead so the whole system can move faster together.
What looks like alignment in the boardroom is often unresolved strategy in disguise, setting execution up to fail months before it begins.
For many CEOs, leaving well is the most important and lasting leadership responsibility they will ever perform.
Nine cities and 14 events over four blurry months. With a moment to exhale, here are a handful of ideas that continue to stick with me.
The CEOs best prepared for the increasingly volatile future are the ones with the clearest operating logic, and the discipline to make every major decision fit it.
The managers who miss their numbers aren’t your biggest concern. It’s the ones who appear to be doing just fine—while quietly driving disengagement and pushing high performers toward the exit.
With alcohol consumption declining, many Maine brewers were sitting idle for days at time. Then CEO Jen Millard built a new opportunity for the industry.
The current supply chain crisis isn’t a technology problem. It’s a fundamentals problem.
Sustainable growth is not the result of a single strategy, product launch or market cycle. It is the outcome of disciplined decisions made consistently over time.
Strong order books, easing recession concerns and improved access to new markets lifted confidence among U.S. manufacturing CEOs again in June, even as cost pressures and geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on the sector.
Catamount Machine Works CEO Chris Basgall explains why manufacturers must build disciplined processes before embracing artificial intelligence.
For Bullen Ultrasonics president Tim Beatty, it’s not either-or when it comes to developing technology and people.
What looks like alignment in the boardroom is often unresolved strategy in disguise, setting execution up to fail months before it begins.
For many CEOs, leaving well is the most important and lasting leadership responsibility they will ever perform.
AI is the latest test of a 250-year pattern. Every wave of disruption has handed America a richer, more dynamic economy than the one it replaced. The CEOs who understood that won the future. So will the next ones.
“All in on AI” makes for wonderful headlines and eases the concerns of fearful board members—but is it actually the best way to start enterprise transformation and business evolution?
Good innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when you trust the people doing the work to find better ways to do it.
In a new Chief Executive survey, CEOs say future growth depends on expansion into new categories, markets and offerings—but most of their revenue still comes from products and services they offered five years ago.
Great teams aren’t powered by solo heroes—they win when people over-communicate under pressure, drop the ego and rotate in and out of the lead so the whole system can move faster together.
The managers who miss their numbers aren’t your biggest concern. It’s the ones who appear to be doing just fine—while quietly driving disengagement and pushing high performers toward the exit.
By nurturing collaboration and its subfactors, you unlock the full potential of people, creating not just a culture of performance but one of shared success.
Good innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when you trust the people doing the work to find better ways to do it.
Coordinated team departures are spreading across industries, creating new risks for talent retention, client stability and business performance.
Practical, do-able steps you can take to control one of the more menacing line items in your P&L.
Your board won’t be your AI savior but can help you prepare.
AI is the latest test of a 250-year pattern. Every wave of disruption has handed America a richer, more dynamic economy than the one it replaced. The CEOs who understood that won the future. So will the next ones.
Boards that treat AI as an IT initiative rather than a governance challenge may discover the risks only after the damage is done.
“All in on AI” makes for wonderful headlines and eases the concerns of fearful board members—but is it actually the best way to start enterprise transformation and business evolution?
Good innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when you trust the people doing the work to find better ways to do it.
In a new Chief Executive survey, CEOs say future growth depends on expansion into new categories, markets and offerings—but most of their revenue still comes from products and services they offered five years ago.
The doctor running Mayo Clinic’s world-renowned Executive Health program on what’s really essential when it comes to preserving CEO healthspans. “Very few are doing those things right.”
From memory, creativity and cognition gains to powerful stress relief, there’s a lot to like—medically—about the great outdoors.
Left unchecked, it can lead to a host of chronic diseases. But there are ways to fight back.
To protect your immune system as you age, take steps to protect your overall health. A guide.
Paying attention to HRV values can be a helpful tool to learn about your body’s resilience level, how your lifestyle affects your stress and identify early signs of health challenges.
Simple steps to safeguard your health, maximize productivity and ensure safe, effective time on the road.
From weekly war-room meetings to testifying in D.C., Julie Robbins has spent the past year learning how to protect a creative manufacturer in a policy minefield—and how to bring employees and fans along.
There’s far more unknown than known about what happens next following the Supreme Court’s ruling. Here’s how to start figuring things out.
The Supreme Court just invalidated most of the president’s tariffs. Before you exhale, perhaps ask a few questions of your team.
Beyond the direct impact on prices, there are multiple effects anticipated on the supply chain, much like those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what to do.
Nearly half of the 300 CEOs surveyed polled this May also say they have already paused hiring or making major new investments in their business. ‘This is not the time to panic but to consciously refine.’
The supply chain uncertainty unleashed by the overhaul of tariff levels in the U.S. is having an immediate and direct impact on the warehousing sector.
Your board won’t be your AI savior but can help you prepare.
Boards that treat AI as an IT initiative rather than a governance challenge may discover the risks only after the damage is done.
“All in on AI” makes for wonderful headlines and eases the concerns of fearful board members—but is it actually the best way to start enterprise transformation and business evolution?
Good innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when you trust the people doing the work to find better ways to do it.
AI is reshaping agency talent and forcing leaders to rethink where automation creates value. The winners will be the companies that reinvest AI-driven efficiencies into stronger judgment, creativity and long-term capability.
Executives who develop a clear point of view on AI, embed it into team operations and openly demonstrate its value are building an advantage that may define the next generation of corporate leadership.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.