Handling Non-Execs: The CEO’s Real Test

Every CEO will tell you that running the business is only half the job. The other half is handling the board and, in particular, the non-executive directors.

Your brain is chatting absolute bollo*ks.

It feeds you fear, dresses it up as truth and keeps you stuck while convincing you it’s keeping you safe.

Women don’t need more women in leadership; they need more men who actually give a sh*t.

The reality is that most senior executives, especially CEOs and board members, have the attention span of a caffeinated goldfish

No one questions the late-night shareholder dinners where the wine keeps flowing, even when there’s a critical board meeting the next morning. You can show up visibly under par, off your game and no one says a word (believe me, I’ve been there when it’s happened…more than once!), because that kind of hangover is still more acceptable than choosing not to drink at all.

I didn’t lose weight because I found the perfect diet. I lost 50kg of weight because I stopped drinking.

It’s amazing what we tolerate in the name of winding down (how many of you are reading this slightly dying in your bed this morning?)

A few weeks ago, I asked a simple question on LinkedIn:

“Are you starting to rethink your relationship with alcohol?”

The response was telling, not just in numbers, but in what it says about where many high performers are finding themselves.

In ten years’ time, alcohol will be where smoking is now. Outdated, socially awkward, and mostly phased out of our culture, in particular our high-performance culture and executive life.