Ep.227: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Dustin Seal (@dustinseale).

My guest today is Dustin Seale, co-author of Lead Through Anything alongside Ed Manfre and managing partner at executive search and leadership firm, Heidrick & Struggles. Dustin has spent his career working with high-performing CEOs from over 70 countries to help transform teams and find the right successors for CEOs and other C-suite executives.

We talk about what to look for in CEO successors, including the Microsoft search Dustin’s firm led to replace Steve Ballmer, why internal talent is often discounted, key predictors for success in leaders, and the core characteristics of purpose, vitality, and agility that all the best leaders Dustin has studied have, and how other CEOs can develop those traits.

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Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/

Links:
Lead Through Anything by Dustin Seale
Dustin on Linkedin

Topics:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:04:48) - The process of replacing Steve Balmer as CEO of Microsoft
(00:09:31) - Pros and cons of internal vs. external candidates in a CEO search
(00:10:59) - What qualities are you looking for in a CEO for a company as large as Microsoft?
(00:16:46) - Creating flexibility with nonlinear planning
(00:26:51) - Pushing messages as a CEO
(00:29:39) - Turning a group of individuals into a team united
(00:32:47) - How new CEOs can make efficient evaluations?
(00:41:06) - Dustin’s process for writing the book
(00:47:58) - Measuring purpose, vitality, and agility
(00:52:17) - Dealing with burnout and lack of fulfillment
(00:56:24) - Dustin’s journey to improve vitality
(00:59:54) - Key concepts to take away from the book