Building Great CEOs

Explore McKinsey’s CEO counseling offerings, as well as our latest insights and learnings for current and future CEOs to unlock heightened performance.

The Role of the CEO

Article

Sending it forward: Successfully transitioning out of the CEO role

July 20, 2023 -

Great CEOs know that the transition to their successor will define their legacy and cement the strength of what they’ve built. Here’s how they do it right.

Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Staying ahead: How the best CEOs continually improve performance

May 25, 2023 -

After the heady first years in the job, CEOs must sustain momentum and high performance. Here are four ways to avoid complacency...

Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Stepping up: Becoming a high-potential CEO candidate

March 6, 2023 -

The road to becoming CEO is a difficult ascent for even the most seasoned leaders. Here are four keys to making the journey a...

Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Starting strong: Making your CEO transition a catalyst for renewal

November 17, 2022 -

The best CEOs use the first six to 12 months of their tenure as a moment of great personal transition and institutional renewal....

How McKinsey Works With CEOs

CEO Excellence

The CEO role is like no other and is the only truly peerless role in a company.

CEO Excellence Forum

This 1.5 day learning forum provides CEOs transitioning into the role an opportunity to access McKinsey’s best insights,...

Bower Forum

This two-day workshop is a unique platform for a small group of CEOs or Chairpersons to discuss goals, challenges, and role-specific...

Board Services

We help clients improve the effectiveness of the board of directors through counseling, capability building, and developing new...

CEO Perspectives

How do the best CEOs think and act? What wisdom can they share? Explore a special collection of CEO perspectives that touches...

CEO Learning

What if the world’s highest-performing CEOs held a master class to share the skills and practices that have driven their...

How CEOs Learn

Moving illustration of wavy blue lines that was produced using computer code

Article

What every CEO should know about generative AI

May 12, 2023 -

Generative AI is evolving at record speed while CEOs are still learning the technology’s business value and risks. Here, we offer some of the generative AI essentials.

Blog page - Featured Insights

The McKinsey guide to excelling as a CEO

The CEO role is arguably more challenging than it’s ever been. Become the most effective leader you can be with expert...

Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Rising CEOs: Lessons from the McKinsey Leadership Forum

April 10, 2023 -

Preparing for the CEO role can be a challenge and a reward. These eight lessons drawn from more than 300 McKinsey Leadership...

Portrait of mature businessman seated at workstation in design studio

Podcast

Six CEO priorities for 2023

April 6, 2023 -

Leaders around the world are confronting a welter of uncertainties. Here’s how to home in on what matters—and begin...

Wintery aerial view of a red ice-breaker ship pushing through cracked sea ice

Article

Actions the best CEOs are taking in 2023

March 15, 2023 -

Corporate leaders are addressing the risks while finding the opportunities in digital disruption, the economy, and geopolitical...

Article

How business operations can respond to price increases: A CEO guide

March 11, 2022 -

Companies need better tools to tackle rising prices. CEOs can look for them across their business operations.

Commentary

The labor market is upside down. Here’s what CEOs can do about it

February 3, 2022 -

Business leaders can play a key role in easing labor market pressure and helping to make sustainable and inclusive growth a reality....

Article

The CEO agenda in 2022: Harnessing the potential of growth jolts

January 13, 2022 -

Despite uncertainties, the US economy is robust. The year ahead could jolt further growth.

Books for CEOs

Perspectives from CEO Excellence

Book - Featured Insights

CEO Excellence

What if the world’s highest-performing CEOs held a master class to share the skills and practices that have driven their success...

Podcast

Leadership lessons from the world’s best CEOs

February 23, 2022 -

The authors of the new book CEO Excellence, who interviewed dozens of the top-performing chief executives, share their...

Interview

What separates the best CEOs from the rest?

December 15, 2021 -

Three McKinsey senior partners looked across more than 20 years’ worth of data on 7,800 CEOs from 3,500 public companies...

Interview

It’s time to pass the baton

May 4, 2022 -

To solve decades-old issues, former presidential adviser David Gergen says we need fresh leadership—so he wrote a playbook...

Interview

David Fubini on hidden truths for CEOs

February 26, 2022 -

In his new book, David Fubini provides a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be a superior leader.

Interview

Hubert Joly on unleashing human magic

May 5, 2022 -

The former chairman and CEO of Best Buy describes the leadership principles required to thrive in capitalism’s next era....

Leading Off

Start each Monday ready to take on the leadership challenges of the coming week. Revealing research, inspiring interviews, and insightful quotations to empower you and those you lead. Subscribe to this weekly newsletter to get it all.

CEO Interviews

MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita: Bridging Africa’s connectivity gap

July 17, 2023 -

The head of the continent’s largest mobile operator talks about technology’s role in fostering sustainable growth and how his company’s delayering strategy can help accelerate that transformation.

Voices of CEO excellence: Merck’s Ken Frazier

June 12, 2023 -

The former CEO and executive chairman of the pharmaceutical company offers candid reflections on how crises tested his commitment to values—both Merck’s and his own.

Making programmatic M&A work: An interview with Empower CEO Ed Murphy

May 2, 2023 -

In less than a decade, Empower has grown into the second-largest US retirement services company. Ed Murphy, the company’s leader since day one, offers an experienced perspective on M&A success.

Opening doors for women leaders: An interview with Caroline Feeney

March 8, 2023 -

As executive vice president and CEO of US businesses at Prudential, Caroline Feeney has found success by staying true to herself and helping others to climb the ladder.

A culture of conviction: An interview on organizational transformation with the former CEO of Société Générale

June 13, 2023 -

Frédéric Oudéa reflects on the importance of culture to leadership and decision making as he hands off Société Générale to his successor.

Leading from the heart: How Freshworks’ CEO built a global tech unicorn

May 17, 2022 -

Girish Mathrubootham, CEO of the India-born, US-headquartered software-as-a-service start-up believes that this is the decade for India as a product nation.

‘A CEO cannot micromanage’: An interview with Jackson Health CEO Carlos Migoya

April 11, 2022 -

Times of crisis call for communication, humbleness, and flexibility.

Leapfrogging a generation: Talking with GB Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave

April 8, 2022 -

The cofounder of the Lagos-based fintech shares his perspectives on the nuanced dynamics of payments competition and innovation in Africa.

What resilience means to Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar

March 4, 2022 -

For Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar, resilience requires diverse perspectives, local solutions, playbooks to help anticipate the unexpected, and a regard for unforeseen consequences.

Author Talks: Indra Nooyi on leadership, life, and crafting a better future

October 8, 2021 -

The trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo discusses the events that shaped her life and offers a blueprint for work–family conundrums.

Moderna’s path to vaccine innovation: A talk with CEO Stéphane Bancel

August 27, 2021 -

Moderna’s delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine comes on the heels of revolutionary science that may accelerate innovation across the industry well into the future.

A digital-business builder: An interview with the CEO of Allianz Direct

June 25, 2021 -

What does it take to build scalable new businesses inside of an older, more established company? Bart Schlatmann is building one now.

Taking stock: Catching up with Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman

February 8, 2021 -

How has the global market exchange remained relevant to its stakeholders after 50 years? By embracing changes in technology, society, and the economy and by meeting customers’ needs with innovation.

The Committed Innovator: An interview with Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo

December 15, 2020 -

When a marketing executive discovered an unexpected market opportunity, she disrupted the company’s original business—and became CEO in the process.

Building a digital New York Times: CEO Mark Thompson

August 10, 2020 -

Thompson looks back on an eight-year tenure that has transformed a 170-year-old news brand into a global, digital-subscription-first powerhouse—and at what lies ahead for its new leadership.

McKinsey Classics for Future CEOs

Functional-leaders-become-CEO_1536x1536_200_Standard

Article - McKinsey Quarterly

How functional leaders become CEOs

April 17, 2017 -

Limited operational experience is not necessarily a barrier to the top job. Here’s what CFOs and others must do to jump...

CEO-Exceptional_Thumbnail_1536x1536_200_Standard

Article - McKinsey Quarterly

What makes a CEO ‘exceptional’?

April 10, 2017 -

We assessed the early moves of CEOs with outstanding track records; some valuable lessons for leadership transitions emerged.

Blog Post

Lessons for new CEOs: Go big, go fast, or go home

June 16, 2016 -

My colleagues Kurt Strovink, Thomas Meakin, and I analyzed the major moves over 600 CEOs took during their first two years in...

Related Insights

McKinsey on Books

Explore this month’s best-selling business books prepared exclusively for McKinsey Publishing by Circana and a collection of books by McKinsey authors on the management issues that matter, from leadership and talent to digital transformation, corporate finance, and more.

McKinsey Academy