Every CEO has a dashboard. Most of them are useless. Too many numbers, too much lag, too little signal. I watch one number every morning before I do anything else:..

People ask why I’m still doing this. After 100+ acquisitions, multiple bestsellers, CEO and chairman roles, and more years than I care to count — why not step off the..

I’ve interviewed thousands of executives. I ask them all the same opening question: “Tell me about a time you were wrong.” Why it works The answer tells you three things...

I spent the first decade of my career believing I was a great delegator. I wasn’t. I was great at assigning tasks. There’s a difference. Tasks vs. decisions Delegating a..

People ask me for reading recommendations. My honest answer is that I’ve read hundreds of business books and five of them changed how I operate. The rest I forget. The..

The best hire I’ve ever made went on to run a bigger company than mine. That’s not a warning. That’s the goal. The trap most CEOs fall into CEOs hire..

Turnarounds aren’t mysterious. They follow the same four steps every time. Most CEOs skip one and wonder why the company stays stuck. Step 1: Stop the bleeding Before you can..

Every CEO has a conversation they’re avoiding. I can tell you who it’s with inside five minutes of meeting you. It’s usually a long-tenured executive who used to be great..

People ask me how I’ve closed 100+ deals. They should ask me how many I’ve walked away from. It’s a bigger number. The deals I won’t do I don’t buy..

Operating systems are having a moment. EOS, Scaling Up, OKRs — every middle market CEO I meet is running one. Most of them aren’t working. The problem These systems were..

Fifteen years ago I walked into a board meeting convinced I was going to be fired. I wasn’t wrong. We’d missed the quarter. Again. I had three explanations ready. The..

I’ve run businesses in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. The cultural differences are real. The business fundamentals aren’t. What’s different How you build trust. How you negotiate...