“No one is prepared to become a leader.” Bill George, the former CEO of Medtronic, describes an opinion that is widely shared: the transition towards a leadership position can throw off even the most competent people.

Indeed, this is a time when paradoxes pile up. You must both take the time to learn and rapidly show results: everybody knows that the first hundred days are crucial. You must notably adopt a new posture, with seemingly contradictory objectives. Because of their position at the top of the hierarchy, leaders attract the most attention. They must inspire trust, reassure, show that they are in command. This position sends them front stage and strains their ego. But it is also critical that they figure out how to self-efface behind the company they manage: only under this condition will they fully exercise their function.

How can you keep this essential humbleness whilst being in the limelight? Mastercard former CEO Ajay Banga proposes this analogy, worth keeping in mind: “Guys like us, we’re just stewards of the system in a ship sailing through the sea. You have to make sure that the boat doesn’t sink (…) and that during the voyage it picks up a couple of extra sails and some new engine technology. (…) But you don’t brand the boat with your name and call it the Ajay Banga boat.”

Source: Starting strong: Making your CEO transition a catalyst for renewal, Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra, Kurt Strovink, McKinsey Quarterly, November 2022.