Chief Executive Group

Jim Collins is the author of a shelf full of the best business books ever written—Good to Great, Built to Last, How the Mighty Fall, Great by Choice—an unparalleled library of concepts that continue to shape how leaders think decades after he first published them. But at no point in his career has Collins pursued bigger questions—or embarked on a more ambitious research agenda—than he has for his latest book, What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative (Harper Edge, April 2026). https://lnkd.in/eW7tnrsd

After working alongside more than 220 CEOs across 23 countries, Lui Damasceno, CEO of Brooks International, reached a conclusion that makes a lot of leaders uncomfortable: Their strategy isn’t usually the big problem with their strategy. The operating model beneath it almost always is. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/eeuuHkh8

The leadership decisions that have the greatest impact on your business often come down to people. Who you hire. How you structure incentives. What you prioritize—and what you don’t. These choices shape performance, influence retention and signal what truly matters across the organization. At the CEO Summit, Robert C. Whitehouse, Global Chief People Officer at MiQ Digital, Mike Bonner, Partner at Compensation Advisory Partners LLC (CAP), and jessica lee, Global Officer of Talent Acquisition & Associate Development at Marriott International, will share a practical, inside view from their work with CEOs and boards. They’ll unpack: • The people decisions that create the biggest ripple effects across culture and execution • What’s actually driving retention and engagement right now • How incentives and expectations are shaping behavior across roles and generations • Where talent strategy is either accelerating performance—or quietly holding it back This is a candid, peer-level discussion focused on the decisions that matter most—and how to approach them with greater clarity and intent. Join your peers April 7-8 in Bethesda, MD: https://lnkd.in/g_dFXCdb Jamie Tassa | Dan Bigman | Wayne Cooper | Marshall Cooper

If there was one health metric your wearable device is probably already capturing but you're likely ignoring, it's heart rate variability, and according to a Mayo Clinic specialist, that's a missed opportunity. In a new post for Chief Executive, Pauline H. Lucas, P.T., D.P.T., a Mayo Clinic integrative physical therapist, explains that HRV measures the tiny variation in time between each heartbeat, and it turns out those milliseconds reveal a lot: https://lnkd.in/ePG69ktr

You didn’t build a business that depends on you by accident. Your company grew because you owned the key relationships, made the toughest decisions and set the standards everyone else follows. But as the company grows, that same dynamic can quietly become the constraint on the next stage of growth. On March 25, Chief Executive Coaching is hosting a conversation with CEOs who have worked through that transition—moving a company from CEO-driven to leadership-team driven without losing momentum. Russ Howard, former CEO and executive coach, joins Marshall Cooper, CEO of Chief Executive Group, to discuss what that shift actually looks like inside a growing company. Join us online on Wednesday, March 25 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gvTqtBN7

Even the most capable leaders can find themselves running on empty. The pressure on today’s CEOs and senior executives rarely lets up. Over time, the constant demands of decision-making, responsibility and uncertainty can quietly drain the energy and clarity leaders rely on most. The risk isn’t simply burnout. It’s leading your team when your capacity is already stretched. At the CEO Summit, Colonel Arthur J. Athens, USMC (Ret.) will share practical ways to sustain leadership performance when the pressure never truly eases. You’ll leave with clear approaches to: 🔹 Identify the operational and personal factors that quietly drain a leader’s energy and judgment 🔹 Spot early indicators that you or members of your team are approaching depletion 🔹 Reset your focus and decision-making when fatigue begins to affect performance 🔹 Maintain credibility, steadiness and trust with your team during sustained pressure 🔹 Build habits and systems that help you lead at full strength over long periods of demand If you’re responsible for guiding teams through constant pressure and complex decisions, this session will give you practical tools to sustain the clarity and capacity your role requires. Register: https://lnkd.in/g_dFXCdb

Tariffs, once a distant policy issue that mostly hit big-box retailers and industrial giants, have landed squarely on mid-market manufacturers and niche brands with global supply chains. Even the glimmer of hope for refunds comes with fresh uncertainty about who’s entitled to what, how long it will take and whether customers will demand a share.  For CEOs, the real headache isn’t just higher costs, but the constant rule changes that make it harder to price, plan inventory and keep employees and customers aligned on what comes next.  In an interview with Chief Executive, EarthQuaker Devices CEO Julianne Robbins explains how she dug into the numbers, walked her team through what the tariffs were doing to the business and made painful calls on pricing, hiring and product development to stay afloat: https://lnkd.in/enXVtRej

Manufacturers are facing a new set of leadership challenges. Rising costs, talent shortages, supply chain shifts and accelerating technology adoption are forcing leaders to rethink how their operations compete and grow. That’s exactly what we’ll be discussing at the Manufacturing Leaders Summit, May 5–6 in St. Louis. This year’s program brings together manufacturing CEOs and senior operators for practical conversations about leadership, innovation and operational performance inside modern manufacturing organizations. Featured sessions include: • John Kramer, Jr., CEO of Cambridge Air Solutions, sharing how leadership culture, daily accountability and frontline engagement can drive continuous improvement and operational performance. • Peter Allen Mann, CEO of Oransi, discussing what it actually takes to reshore manufacturing and compete with overseas production. • Bob Chapman, Chairman & CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, on building a people-first culture that drives engagement, accountability and long-term performance. Attendees will also participate in behind-the-scenes factory tours, including visits to Barry-Wehmiller’s global headquarters and Boeing’s advanced aerospace manufacturing operations, offering a rare look at how leading manufacturers apply innovation, culture and operational discipline on the plant floor. If you’re leading a manufacturing business today, this is a valuable opportunity to learn directly from peers navigating the same challenges. Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/eUziFJh6 #ManufacturingLeadership #Manufacturing #Operations #Leadership

What actually drives people to stay engaged, focused and committed at work? Kelly Mackin has spent years studying that question. As the author of Work Life Well-Lived, her work explores the psychological, emotional and social motives that shape how people perform, connect and contribute at work. At CEO Summit, Mackin will introduce you to the science behind those motives and explain why traditional, one-size-fits-all leadership approaches often fall short. Her research identifies 28 core drivers that influence engagement and performance and what you can do to create conditions where your team performs at their best. For leaders navigating constant change, the value is practical: when you understand what motivates people, you can build teams that stay aligned, energized and performing at a high level. Join us April 7–8 to hear Kelly Mackin’s perspective. Secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/g_dFXCdb

Most CEOs assume their financials are reliable enough if the P&L shows profit, cash is in the bank and the CPA hasn’t raised concerns. But that confidence is often misplaced.  According to Jennifer Barnes, MBA, CEO of Optima Office, Inc., who has seen this play out at literally hundreds of midmarket companies, many organizations are running on books that look acceptable on the surface but contain unreconciled accounts, distorted margins and balance sheets that don’t reflect reality. That becomes a strategic problem, not just an accounting one. When leaders make decisions on hiring, pricing, expansion or acquisitions without clean, decision-grade numbers, they risk acting on fiction. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/eWzPABmU