The Origin of the CEO’s CEO

The internal complexity of the brain far exceeds the complexity of even the largest global corporations. The internal map of the neural networks through which the CEO’s CEO must navigate is far more daunting than the external business environment. As if that is not enough, an additional challenge is the way the brain evolved over time. It’s not unlike what we see in many large corporations of today, where over time new highly sophisticated IT systems have been layered on top of – but never fully replaced -- primitive old legacy software programs of earlier years. As Jaron Lanier states: “The process of significantly changing software in a situation in which a lot of other software is dependent upon it is the hardest thing to do. So it almost never happens.” (You Are Not A Gadget, p. 7.) And fascinatingly enough, it did not happen in our brains either. As a result, highly intelligent CEOs at times make embarrassing, humbling mistakes, and often far more public and damaging than their company’s IT inefficiencies.

It might prove to be a relief if we could actually confine executive mental activity within that section of brain mass with the latest technology -- the more modern cerebral cortex. This is the area that Goldberg (The Executive Brain) refers to as closest to the Executive Function, applying oversight, judgment and decision making in the brain.  This is where our more rational, conceptual thought is found ("All we want are the facts, ma'am", Joe Friday, Dragnet).  But the fact of the matter is the CEO’s mind houses potentially troubling ancestors, conveniently hidden away in the deeper recesses of the brain, but lurking nevertheless. In the absence of vigilant security, primitive mental forces all too often find their way up into the executive suite, and not without consequence, even to the lions (or tigers) of leadership.

While 2009 is certainly no exception to history, some are already calling it the “Year of the Scandal”. Examples of embarrassing leadership blunders have been dramatically precipitous on the public leadership stage: Mark Sanford, John Ensign, former senator John Edwards, and perhaps the most captivating and intriguing of all, Tiger.

• As CEO of the professional golfer at work on the links, Tiger Woods was voted Athlete of the Decade.

• As CEO of his expanding business empire (course design, endorsements, etc.,) he was voted No. 1 in BusinessWeek's 2008 second annual Power 100 list of the most influential people in the sport’s industry. (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_41/b4103047401760.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily).

• But as the CEO of his own tightly constructed and extremely private personal life, Tiger totally unraveled, leaving the world around him baffled and confused, wondering if it ever really knew the real CEO it came to admire.

The growth of the brain through the course of evolution has been additive: the primitive roots never died away. As a result, we have a (1) layer of cerebral neo cortex wrapped around (2) an inner system of limbic functions, all built upon and around (3) a primitive brain stem. All still function, though differently than in the beginning. As a CEO manages their daily schedule of business demands, “there’s a kind of lizard-squirrel-monkey brain in your head shaping your reactions from the bottom up.” (Hanson, Buddha’s Brain, p. 24)

Some cultures seem to be able to separate personal foible from public or professional performance; for us here in the US, the inability to manage the Executive Function in one part of life raises questions about all the rest. The CEO is obviously a critical asset of any company. When the Executive Function of a CEO fails in any part of life it exposes the business to risks, financial and otherwise. If for that reason alone, CEO’s must cultivate capacities for wisdom in managing their own tri-part brains, never forgetting that they are – in overly simplistic terms -- part reptile, part old mammal, and only part the newly evolving “human”. Most of the focus of this blog will center on the role of higher Executive Functions in the neo cortex (The Executive Office of the CEO's Brain); but CEOs must never lose awareness of where we all come from.