This is the worst advice we give new CEOs

“Congratulations and condolences.” This is a real message a peer sent when I became CEO of BarkleyOKRP in May 2025. And he wasn’t alone in his sentiment. It seems many regarded this career-defining achievement as the corporate equivalent of buying a boat: Enjoy that first day; the rest will be rough. My future was to be filled with bigger decisions, harder calls, and problems aplenty. And now I was a team of one. My office was an island, miles from help. As they say, it’s lonel...