Success as a CEO

Hello!

I hope you’ve had a good week.

Last week in Sydney, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Steve Vamos, CEO (Xero, Apple, Microsoft, IBM) for a fireside chat on leadership, change, and what it really takes to operate at CEO level.

Steve has led organisations through multiple waves of disruption — from early internet businesses to SaaS, and now AI.

What struck me most wasn’t just the breadth of his experience…

…but how clearly he’s distilled what actually matters in leadership.

There was a lot in the conversation — but a few ideas stood out that I think are particularly relevant as you think about your own trajectory.

A reframing that stuck with me

Early in the conversation, Steve said something very simple:

“Leadership is change. And change is hard.”

It sounds obvious.

But most people still approach leadership as if it’s about managing what already exists — not constantly reshaping it.

And that gap shows up everywhere:

• In strategy that doesn’t get executed.
• In teams that aren’t aligned.
• In organisations that feel busy… but don’t move.

The real job of a CEO is not what most people think.

One of the most interesting parts of our discussion was Steve’s view that:

We’re not actually trained for the CEO role.

If you think about it:

• Finance → you’re trained in finance
• Marketing → you’re trained in marketing
• Law → you’re trained in law

But CEO?

You arrive there as a functional expert — and then suddenly you’re expected to operate across everything.

Steve described his early experience as CEO of 9MSN, walking into a domain he knew nothing about…

…and realising his job wasn’t to be the smartest person in the room.

It was something else entirely.

The core idea: misalignment is the problem

The biggest takeaway from that experience:

“The job of a CEO is to fix misalignment.”

Not strategy decks.
Not functional optimisation.
Not being the most knowledgeable.

Misalignment.

Between:

• Strategy and execution
• Teams and priorities
• Processes and outcomes
• What customers want vs what you deliver

And the important nuance:

No one else can fix it.

You can have great functional leaders.

But unless someone is actively stitching the organisation together…

…it drifts.

Building on that, Steve shared a few areas he believes only a CEO can truly own.

Three stood out in particular:

1. Clarity of purpose and priorities

Sounds basic — but is rarely done well.

The hard part isn’t defining priorities.

It’s saying no to good ideas from good people.

Steve referenced Steve Jobs here:

Focus is not about what you say yes to.
It’s about what you say no to.

Most organisations try to do too much.

Which usually means they achieve less than they could.

2. Turning intention into action

This is where many organisations struggle.

Strategy is often clear.

Execution is not.

Steve’s observation was that:

Alignment at the top is meaningless if it doesn’t translate into coordinated, cross-functional action.

In practice, that means:

• Clear ownership
• Real resource commitment (not “best efforts”)
• Cross-functional coordination (not siloed plans)
• Ongoing visibility and accountability

Without this, strategy becomes… narrative.

3. Building a leadership team that serves the whole (not just their function)

This was a particularly sharp point.

Strong organisations require functional leaders to:

Sub-optimise their own function… to optimise the whole.

Which is hard.

Because:

• Functions have strong incentives
• Leaders have strong opinions
• And egos naturally show up under pressure

This is where leadership becomes less about structure — and more about judgement and difficult conversations.

A pattern I see a lot (and Steve reinforced).

For those coming from consulting / strategy backgrounds, one point really stood out.

You’re trained to:

• Spot problems
• Have answers
• Add value everywhere

Which is useful — until it isn’t.

Because in leadership roles:

Not every problem is yours to solve.

Steve reinforced something I’ve been told in many CEO interviews:

You need to pick your battles.

• 5% → lean in hard
• 95% → let go

Otherwise, you become a bottleneck.

Or worse — you undermine the people you need to empower.

What actually stands out to CEOs.

We also talked about what differentiates people on the path to senior leadership.

Steve’s answer was refreshingly simple:

• People who care about the organisation
• People who are genuinely good at change
• People who can manage themselves under pressure

That last one is more important than it sounds.

Because change isn’t just external.

It’s internal.

• Fear
• Ego
• Conditioning

All show up — especially in moments that matter.

The leaders who progress are the ones who can:

Pause.
Recognise what’s happening
…and choose how they respond.

The human bit (this really matters).

One theme came up repeatedly:

This is not a technology problem. It’s a human one.

Even in the context of AI.

Steve put it very directly:

Technology doesn’t disrupt industries. People do.

Which aligns strongly with another recent conversation I had with Kate Smaje (McKinsey's global AI lead) — where the conclusion was:

As technology advances…

Human qualities become more, not less, important.

Things like:

• Trust
• Self-awareness
• Communication
• The ability to have difficult conversations

And perhaps most importantly:

The willingness to keep learning — and unlearning.

Three simple practices (that aren’t easy).

If I distil Steve’s advice down into something practical:

1. Manage your mindset
Be aware of how you react under pressure — and consciously choose your response.

2. Fix one misalignment every day
Small improvements compound faster than big plans.

3. Have the conversations others avoid
Most change happens through words — or doesn’t happen at all.

So what does this mean for you?

If you’re aiming for senior leadership (or already there), a few reflections:

• Are you optimising your function… or the whole?
• Are you clear on priorities — or trying to do too much?
• Are you contributing to alignment — or unintentionally creating noise?
• Are you reacting instinctively — or choosing your response deliberately?

And perhaps the most important:

Are you actually good at change?

Because increasingly…

That’s the job.

It was a thoughtful and very honest conversation — and I’m grateful to Steve for sharing his experiences so openly.

So maybe the question to leave you with is this:

In a world where change is constant…
how good are you at leading it?

Best wishes,
Rich

ps. This is a topic that comes up a lot in my career conversations — particularly with people transitioning into broader leadership roles. Always happy to explore it if it’s something you’re thinking about.