HBR — Survey: 68% of CEOs Admit They Weren’t Prepared for the Job

CEOs are known for their confidence. It is, after all, one of the reasons they’ve made it to the top. And yet, that confidence sometimes flags, as we at leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder learned from a survey of 402 CEOs from 11 countries—executives who together run companies with $2.6 trillion in sales.

Participating anonymously, CEOs told us that while they did feel ready for the strategic and business aspects of their roles, they felt much less prepared for the personal and interpersonal components of leadership, which are just as critical to success.
Here are some of the most surprising findings:

One of the issues is that there is not much CEO training prior to taking the reins.

Remarked one: “When you become the final decisionmaker, everything changes. It’s hard to train on this.”

That would apply to decision-makings in politics, too. How does one train to be president and commander-in chief of the military.

Harvard Business Review
Survey: 68% of CEOs Admit They Weren’t Prepared for the Job
Kati Najipoor-Schutte and Dick Patton