The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

606: CEO Readiness: How Boards Decide Who Gets the Top Job

Dec 1, 2025

Byron Loflin, Global Head of Board Advisory at Nasdaq and co-author of 'CEO Ready,' discusses what truly makes an effective CEO beyond just stellar performance. He reveals that boards seek humility, curiosity, and genuine relationships. Loflin shares a lesson from Ronald Reagan on the importance of interest in others and warns that unchecked ego can derail leadership. He highlights the necessity for aspiring CEOs to cultivate key skills and emphasizes the urgency for leaders to understand AI's relevance in today's rapidly evolving landscape.

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ANECDOTE

Reagan's Humility Left A Mark

Byron rode in a car with Ronald Reagan before he was president and noticed Reagan's genuine interest in others.
That humility and curiosity surprised Byron and shaped his view of leadership behavior.

INSIGHT

Performance Alone Won't Win The Job

Performing well in your current role doesn't automatically secure the CEO job because boards look for broader stakeholder diplomacy.
Boards evaluate how you inspire others, display humility, and navigate external relationships beyond results.

INSIGHT

When Outsiders Look More Attractive

External candidates can win when companies need transformational, digital or strategic disruption that insiders lack experience with.
Rapid change and AI-driven analysis make boards more likely to favor outsiders with relevant disruption experience.

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Byron Loflin, Global Head of Board Advisory at Nasdaq and co-author of CEO Ready, explained on the Strategy Skills Podcast why many talented executives never make it to the top.

" Because you perform well isn't going to automatically get you the job."

Boards are looking for more than results. They look for humility, curiosity, and authentic relationships across stakeholders. Byron shared a personal lesson from riding with Ronald Reagan before he was president:

"He was genuinely interested in others. And that surprised me. I didn't get the sense that he was a pompous or aristocratic kind of person. He was genuinely interested in identifying what are you interested in? What makes you tick?"

He also warned that unchecked ego is one of the biggest risks to leadership:

"Ego is a powerful motivator when it's focused properly. But when it becomes dominant in one's personality and drives inappropriate types of responses to the needs of others… Ego can become a significant problem."

To counter ego, he recommended building close, truth-telling relationships. This is what Byron said about conversations with his children:

"I listen to them very closely when they speak to me and I invite them to speak truth into my life."

And he reminded us that succession is political:

"Surprise is the enemy. Structure is your friend."

Finally, boards now expect leaders to be fluent in technology and disruption:

"The expectation of management delivering understanding on the relevancy of AI to your organization with the emphasis on relevancy."

Actions you can take now

Seek feedback aggressively. Create a circle of truth-tellers: colleagues, mentors, even family, who will tell you the truth.
Check your ego daily. Build humility into routines by asking: "Am I genuinely interested in others, or focused only on myself?"
Engage all seven stakeholders. Byron identified investors, employees, vendors, customers, communities, regulators, and the environment as decisive. Map your relationships and strengthen the weakest link.
Signal reliability to boards. Remove surprises. Show discipline in how you work and how you communicate.

Become AI-fluent. Don't chase every trend. Focus on the relevancy of AI and digital disruption to your business and be prepared to explain it clearly.

Get Byron's book, CEO Ready, here: https://tinyurl.com/z87xz94h

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