There is no school for becoming a CEO. Therefore learning from the lived experience of other CEOs can be helpful. Wilf Blackburn, who has held seven Regional and Country CEO roles in life and health insurance across Asia and Africa over 25 years, has written a book based on hard-won experience. His central insight is simple but radical: effective CEOship comes down to one thing—getting the best out of others.
This matters because CEOs achieve almost nothing alone. They succeed by building teams, trusting their judgment, and stepping back. Blackburn calls this shifting from the apex of a pyramid to the center of interconnected webs of relationships. The CEO’s job is not to have all the answers; it is to nurture the people who do.
The approach flows from one decision: hire the right people. Not the most technically skilled. Hire on personality and values. Teach the skills. Then act as if you trust them—because if you don’t, why did you hire them in the first place? If you treat smart people like they’re not smart, it backfires.
Once you’ve hired well, the financial results follow naturally. Blackburn challenges the notion that focusing on profit leads to success. It doesn’t. Looking at the scoreboard doesn’t improve your tennis game. Empowering your workforce does. Strategy matters, customers matter, but people come first. Leaders who prioritize sustainable human performance over short-term targets build organizations that last.
This is a practical book for CEOs navigating their first years in the role. It offers concrete tools grounded in real experience—the kind you can actually use.
Wilf Blackburn. Optimal Leadership: Reflections of a Serial CEO. Breakthrough Books, 2025