Why is there no standard operating system for the CEO?
This is the glaring gap I'm working to fill.
Our next CEO Masterclass runs November 5–7, 2025, at Texas CEO Ranch near Austin.
This is a 3-day, 3-night immersive program led by Sherif Sakr and me, limited to a small cohort of CEOs.
You get direct training on our CEO Operating System, private lodging, all meals, a customized CEO playbook, two private 1-on-1 coaching sessions, and lifetime access to CEO-S alumni benefits. We include a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
To join, email sherif@ceosys.co. The cohort is capped for quality, so register promptly if you plan to attend.
Here’s what CEOs say about it:
“The system is powerfully simple, and simply powerful.”
—Drew Bagot, Managing Partner, Sierra Capital Partners & YPO President
“The lessons and insights have reshaped me and the trajectory of my business.”
—Andies Shepherd, CEO, Next Level Valet
“CEO-S has been life-changing.”
—Brenda Darden Wilkerson, President & CEO, AnitaB.org
As a CEO, I used to look at my executives and wonder why I was the only one without a system.
My VP of Sales had Salesforce, high-quality training like Sandler, the Challenger Sale methodology, an entire ecosystem of frameworks and tools.
My CFO had QuickBooks, GAAP, established playbooks for every financial scenario.
Every other leadership role, from HR to product management, had smart, tested frameworks and lots of guidance on how to do that specific thing really well.
It seemed strange to me that the CEO didn’t really have that.
I could read inspirational quotes or general leadership books - some containing really good ideas - but there was nothing focused on the nuts and bolts of running a whole organization at scale.
Founders do have tools like EOS, and EOS is great. But at a certain point in scaling, the system for the entrepreneur needs to become the system for the professional CEO.
The CEO’s balancing act
Most CEOs I work with describe the same struggles:
Sleepless nights
Constant firefighting
Wondering if the board is losing confidence
Getting stuck on a big decision with no consensus
Not knowing what people are actually working on day to day
I know these well myself.
Early in my CEO career they were my near-constant companions.
My thesis with the CEO Operating System (CEO-S) is that having a clear system for the role, just like your functional leaders have for theirs, helps you move above these problems.
And in my experience so far, it’s true. The most common comment I get after a CEO trains on CEO-S is that they wish they’d done it X number of years ago. Once you see the whole picture of the role and your whole toolbox of tools, it’s a huge relief.
Part of that relief is bringing the tensions inherent in the job to the light.
My core metaphor for the CEO job has always been that of a tightrope walker, because that’s really what it feels like to be constantly balancing tensions:
Marketing vs. sales
Sales vs. product
Shareholders vs. customers
Customers vs. employees
Other executives get to BE those tensions, advocating for their group to get more resources and promoting its specific activities.
But the CEO has to MANAGE the tensions. It’s a very different function.
On top of that, the CEO job comes with other aspects you didn’t have as a functional executive:
Total responsibility without total knowledge
Having to make decisions across functions you’ve never worked in
Managing the future, not just executing the present
Acting entirely through people instead of doing things yourself
Lack of honest feedback (everyone filters what they tell you)
Without a clear idea of how these dynamics work or a clear set of tools and operating cadence to handle this stuff, the new CEO finds themselves flailing.
They’re like a sixteen-year-old handed the keys to a Porsche with no training other than “Just drive between the lines!” Is it any wonder that the CEO failure rate is around 50 to 70 percent?
Professionals Have a System
Amateurs have tactics. Professionals have a system.
This is why the CEO Operating System is so important. It refines and coheres tactics and tools specific to the CEO role into a full framework, the kind every other professional role has had for decades.
For several years, my cofounder Sherif and I have been teaching this system in intensive, small-cohort formats. The feedback, and the results, have been tremendous.
We now want to bring more and more CEOs into our community of leaders who are helping to finally professionalize the role of the chief executive.
Our Masterclass happens soon (Nov. 5–7). If you’re a current CEO or on your way to your first CEO job, we would love to have you join our small cohort for this class. We have a couple of spaces left.
Email sherif@ceosys.co to register. You’re also welcome to schedule a call with me to discuss the class and whether it’s a good fit for you.
Till next time, Joel.