3 CEO Habits for Long-Term Success
Long-term CEO success isn’t built on headline-making acquisitions or ambitious launches. It is built on small, consistent habits practiced every day.
As CEO, you own everything about your company. That includes long-term growth, culture, and the intangibles that are hard to measure but essential to success. Daily pressures will try to pull you into immediate, tactical concerns. The CEOs who stay effective over the long haul know how to resist that pull.
After years of observing executives, running businesses, and working directly with CEOs, I can tell you there is nothing glamorous about what makes leaders endure. It comes down to building systems and habits that drive consistent results. The following three habits may not make headlines, but they build companies that last.
1. Use Differentiating Values to Guide Decisions
Every company claims a set of values. Few define values that actually guide behavior.
Most corporate values read like a generic list of virtues: Respect, Integrity, Excellence, etc. These do little to shape real decisions. Good values are different, in that they describe tradeoffs the organization has decided to make. Do you move fast or deliberately? Do you prioritize debate or unity? Is the culture fun-loving and energetic, or does it prize deep thinking and discipline?
Good values drive actions and decisions. As Jim Collins might say, they “have teeth.” They’re not just words on a wall but tools for daily execution. As CEO, hold yourself accountable by asking: Does this decision reflect our stated values? And, related, does it reflect my personal values as a leader?
Takeaway for CEOs: Enshrine values that are specific and actionable and that describe real tradeoffs, not universal goods. Use these values to guide your decisions and to explain your reasoning to your team. When you see a team member living out a value, call it out publicly.
2. Ask Questions with Curiosity, Not Assumptions
Curiosity separates CEOs who stay effective from those who lose touch.
The higher you rise, the less likely you are to hear unfiltered truths. You cannot rely on secondhand data to understand what is happening. You need to go out, ask questions, and stay grounded in reality.
Approach conversations without assumptions. Instead of dictating solutions, ask:
What barriers are you facing?
What do you need to do your job better?
If you could change one thing about your role, what would it be?
The same principle applies externally:
What trends are shifting our industry?
What is changing in customer behavior?
Takeaway for CEOs: Conduct regular listening tours of your company. Spend time outside formal meetings talking directly with employees and customers. And above all, listen. Your two ears and one mouth should be used in that proportion to each other.
3. Build Credibility Through Transparency
Good CEOs build trust through transparency. Withholding information to avoid panic or protect your image is tempting… but it only weakens your credibility over time.
As CEOs, we must develop the habit of knowing what to share with whom in the organization. Almost always, the best choice is openness and proactive honesty (vs. only admitting the hard things when asked point-blank). Saying things like “I don’t know” and “I was wrong” can be difficult as a leader, but it’s those very phrases that build the most trust with your team.
Takeaway for CEOs: Acknowledge when things do not go as planned. Be straightforward without being negative. Work on reflecting objective reality to your team, not a version of reality you wish were true.
The Compound Effect of Habits
Most organizational wins are the result of compounding efforts over time, and these habits are no different.
Pick one and commit to it next quarter. Whether it’s looking through your values lens more consistently or developing your muscle for difficult conversations, small steps in the right direction will generate returns.