Solomon draws a sharp distinction between founders, who can 'anoint themselves' and hire to fill gaps, and those who rise within an established firm. He argues that to become a successor CEO at a company like Goldman Sachs, you must develop a complete skillset by actively improving your weaknesses.
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It is significantly more difficult to step in as a non-founder CEO than to build a business from scratch. The new leader must contend with inherited business inertia, a pre-existing culture shaped by the founder, and constant comparisons, making transformative change much harder.
Leaders in investment organizations are often promoted for their exceptional technical skills—analysis, presentations—not for their management abilities. This creates a leadership deficit that requires deliberate focus and coaching to overcome.
David Solomon counters the Silicon Valley trend of hiring for 'slope' (potential). He argues that for large, established companies, deep experience provides the critical judgment needed to navigate the difficult 51/49 decisions that arise during crises, a quality he feels is underrated.
David Solomon, who describes himself as an 'unlikely CEO,' advises future leaders to concentrate on acquiring a broad range of skills by taking on diverse roles. He suggests focusing on mastering the craft rather than targeting the top job allows for serendipity and a more organic path to leadership.
Even with full board support, a successor CEO may lack the intrinsic 'moral authority' to make drastic 'burn the boats' decisions. This courage is harder to summon without the deep-seated capital a founder naturally possesses, making company-altering transformation more challenging for an outsider.
Leaders who create systems (like a nation's founders or a company's founder) deeply understand the constraints required for success. Those who simply inherit these established systems often lack this "founder DNA," leading to complacency, mismanagement, and eventual decline.
Successor CEOs cannot replicate the founder's all-encompassing "working memory" of the company and its products. Recognizing this is key. The role must shift from knowing everything to building a cohesive team and focusing on the few strategic decisions only the CEO can make.
The founder hired an experienced CEO and then rotated through leadership roles in different departments (brand, product, tech). This created a self-designed, high-stakes apprenticeship, allowing him to learn every facet of the business from experts before confidently retaking the CEO role.
After eight years of grinding, the founder recognized he had taken the company as far as his skillset allowed. Instead of clinging to control, he proactively sought an external CEO with the business acumen he lacked, viewing the hire as a "life preserver" to rocket-ship the company's growth.
The most important job of a leader is team building. This means deliberately hiring functional experts who are better than the CEO in their specific fields. A company's success is a direct reflection of the team's collective talent, not the CEO's individual brilliance.
