Skip to Content
CEO Ready
book

CEO Ready

by Mark Thompson, Byron Loflin, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
November 2025
Beginner to intermediate
272 pages
6h 41m
English
Harvard Business Review Press

Overview

Your track record of success isn't enough. Here's what it really takes to be CEO Ready.

You're on the short list for the CEO job, and you have a record of delivering amazing results. You've been told you have the inside track. You're the leader in the clubhouse.

Don't believe it. Remember that no matter what you've heard or what your CV says, you are not alone in the race, and the odds are against your getting the job.

Leadership selection isn't the methodical, objective process we imagine. Decisions aren't made by robotic executives ticking boxes for attributes such as strategic fit, core competencies, or cultural alignment. Instead, the process is deeply personal, emotional, and often unpredictable.

Now, Mark Thompson and Byron Loflin share with you what it really takes to become CEO ready. Thompson has coached thousands of executives and CEO candidates, and Loflin is a boardroom expert and adviser. They've seen firsthand the emotions that sway CEO selections as well as the personal and boardroom dramas that unfold as a company prepares to pass the baton of leadership.

In CEO Ready, Thompson and Loflin reveal what you need to do to maximize your chances of being the one who secures the top spot, including identifying the seven key stakeholders CEO candidates need to understand and work with. Filled with practical advice and compelling and instructive stories from those who've gone through this arduous process, CEO Ready is essential reading for anyone who aspires to the ultimate leadership position.

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

The Octopus Organization

The Octopus Organization

Phil Le-Brun, Jana Werner
What Successful Project Managers Do

What Successful Project Managers Do

W. Scott Cameron, Jeffrey S. Russell, Edward J. Hoffman, Alexander Laufer

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9798892791694