Greg Stevenson explains why the executives most likely to reach CEO are rarely the fastest problem-solvers. Boards want someone who draws out the best from smart people, not someone who dominates every answer. Keep solving everything yourself and you'll look like the strongest deputy, not the next chair.
The thing that makes you a brilliant executive can be the exact thing that keeps you out of the CEO seat. You got here by having the sharpest answer in the room— fast, certain, always across the detail. But a board is not looking for the best problem solver. They're looking for someone who can hold a room full of smart people and get the best out of them. If you're still the one with every answer, you look like the strongest number 2 they've ever seen, not the person who's going to get the job and the person who's going to be in the chair. Subscribe if the biggest seat is on your radar.
