Most leaders set out to be the best—but few make that Mount Everest–like ascent successfully. What do the world’s most iconic CEOs do differently? McKinsey Senior Partners Carolyn Dewar, Kurt Strovink, Scott Keller, and Vik Malhotra break it down in their new book A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership (Scribner/Simon & Schuster, October 2025), based on research and interviews with executives ranking among the top 200 CEOs across the globe. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, the four coauthors join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss some of the more surprising lessons they learned—and what they’ve changed about their own leadership as a result.

 

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

Most leaders set out to be the best&mdash;but few make that Mount Everest&ndash;like ascent successfully. What do the world&rsquo;s most iconic CEOs do differently? McKinsey Senior Partners <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/carolyn-dewar">Carolyn Dewar</a>, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/kurt-strovink">Kurt Strovink</a>, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/scott-keller">Scott Keller</a>, and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/vik-malhotra">Vik Malhotra</a> break it down in their new book <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/ceo-for-all-seasons">A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership</a> (Scribner/Simon &amp; Schuster, October 2025), based on research and interviews with executives ranking among the top 200 CEOs across the globe. On this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, the four coauthors join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss some of the more surprising lessons they learned&mdash;and what they&rsquo;ve changed about their own leadership as a result.
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Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

The McKinsey Podcast, our new flagship podcast series, takes you inside our global firm, and features conversations with experts on issues that matter most in business and management. McKinsey & Company is a management-consulting firm that helps businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations realize their most important goals. Topics covered in this series include strategy, technology, leadership, marketing, operations, organization, and the role of business in society.

The McKinsey Podcast features conversations with experts from global management-consulting firm McKinsey & Company, focusing on the issues that matter most in business and management.

The McKinsey Podcast

Our flagship series The McKinsey Podcast takes you inside our global firm, and features conversations with experts on issues that matter most in business and management. McKinsey & Company is a management-consulting firm that helps businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations realize their most important goals. Topics covered in this series include strategy, technology, leadership, marketing, operations, organization, and the role of business in society.

Our flagship series The McKinsey Podcast takes you inside our global firm, and features conversations with experts on issues that matter most in business and management. McKinsey &amp; Company is a management-consulting firm that helps businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations realize their most important goals. Topics covered in this series include strategy, technology, leadership, marketing, operations, organization, and the role of business in society.