It’s Not About Authority—It’s About Solving the Hardest Problems
I was working with a CEO when one of the company’s global offices was raided by local police. It wasn’t a particularly safe part of the world, and it was a particularly corrupt part of the world. A shakedown? A mistake? Our employees were left standing in front of their desks, unsure if they’d be arrested or sent home.
We didn’t know what was happening.
Were the employees in danger? Was it a misunderstanding—or something more coordinated? Everything was happening in real time, and real time is hard.
The updates came in fragments—cell phone calls from local lawyers and security teams who knew just as little as we did. No one had the full picture, but decisions had to be made in real time.
Here’s the thing—no one outside the C-suite sees that part. The part where you’re operating with limited visibility, trying to hold the company steady when the situation is still unfolding.
And even in those moments, being CEO isn’t about authority.
In truth, you don’t have nearly as much as people think.
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The Illusion of Control
The higher up you go, the more you realize how little direct control you have.
You can set the tone, but you don’t pull every lever. The business is too complex. You rely on people—and hope you’ve built the right team. Most of the time, you’re stitching together incomplete information to keep things moving forward.
The job isn’t about power. It’s about managing uncertainty at scale.
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Most CEOs Are Problem-Solvers at Scale
I’ve worked with enough CEOs to know—their personality profile isn’t what people imagine.
They aren’t generals barking orders or politicians smoothing relationships. They’re problem-solvers. The company is a system of moving parts, and they’re constantly adjusting, refining, and finding ways to keep it running under pressure.
I worked with a CEO in an organization that had spent 12 years moving from idea to product launch. On launch day, I saw more satisfaction on his face than from any commercial win he had ever achieved. The launch was successful, and that amplified the feeling, but his deepest emotional payoff came from the simple realization—we did it. We finally crossed the line.
It wasn’t the size of the deal or the numbers on a spreadsheet. It was the culmination of problem-solving, of bringing something from concept to reality.
The satisfaction doesn’t come from holding authority. It comes from making the system work better than it did yesterday.
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Making the Call Without Owning the Playing Field
I’ve seen CEOs operate with incomplete data, conflicting reports, and limited visibility. Sometimes during moments that could make or break the company.
You make the call, but you don’t own all the pieces.
If the decision works, the win is collective.
If it fails, you’re the one who answers for it.
But let’s be clear—most CEOs aren’t driven by control.
They’re drawn to the complexity of the challenge. The scale of the problem is the reward.
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The Weight You Can’t Delegate
Leadership today is more collaborative than ever. Organizations emphasize distributed leadership and flatter structures.
But when things unravel, there’s no delegation at the very top.
No matter how inclusive or team-driven the company is, the weight always concentrates in one place.
And even when you don’t directly control the outcome, you’re still accountable for it.
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Why CEOs Keep Taking the Job
It’s not because of the authority. It’s not even about the money, at least not in the way people think.
Most CEO compensation isn’t guaranteed—it’s tied to the company’s performance.
If the company thrives, the CEO thrives. If it doesn’t, they feel it.
But the people drawn to this role don’t chase it for the paycheck alone. They do it because solving problems at this scale is rare.
It’s not about holding the reins—it’s about building something that shouldn’t work, but does.
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Being CEO Is About Influence, Not Command
The real work of a CEO isn’t about issuing directives. It’s about aligning competing agendas, securing buy-in, and keeping the wheels turning when the path ahead isn’t clear.
The influence you have as a CEO comes less from power and more from your ability to rally people around the problem you’re solving.
And the best CEOs aren’t trying to control everything. They’re trying to shape the conditions where the right outcomes happen more often than not.
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So Why Take the Job?
Because for some people, that’s the most interesting challenge there is.
Being CEO isn’t about loving authority. It’s about knowing that someone has to carry the weight and steer the ship.
And for the right kind of person, that’s more compelling than power ever could be.
The hardest lessons in leadership are often the ones no one talks about publicly. I share these moments not to expose, but to connect with those who understand the weight of making decisions in the dark.
If you’re a CEO, what’s been the biggest surprise about the role that no one told you beforehand?
For senior leaders and HR—do you think most people in your organization understand what it actually takes to lead at the highest level?
I’d love to hear how the perception of leadership in your world stacks up against the reality—and where that gap feels widest.
