.Greetings and also invited to Modern chief executive officer! I am actually Stephanie Mehta, chief executive officer and also chief content police officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this bulletin explores broad strategies to leadership drawn from discussions along with execs and business owners, and also from the web pages of Inc. and also Fast Business. If you acquired this e-newsletter coming from a good friend, you can easily register to receive it yourself every Monday morning.Being a chief executive officer nowadays is hard: Tensions feature satisfying investors, managing climbing expenses and also resolving continuous supply-chain issues, and also generating wonderful place of work. But for several executives, being actually an ex-CEO shows its own set of challenges. Some battle to cope with the loss of the perks as well as condition that include the job, while others experience required to follow the well-trodden path to private equity or business panels." Every year, lots of executives relinquish long and also effective business professions. But couple of are prepared for the journey they are about to plunge into," previous Frontier Communications CEO Maggie Wilderotter proclaimed previously this year in a Harvard Company Assessment essay, penned along with job trainer Rick Johnson as well as headhunter Dennis Carey.Life beyond MicrosoftOne past company chieftain who seems to be to have actually located his ground is former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers basketball crew for $2 billion in 2014 and also merely unveiled the staff's new home, the Intuit Dome. (Quick Firm calls it "Steve Ballmer's $ 2 billion play ground for Los Angeles Clippers supporters.") The crew and also sector have given Ballmer a sense of objective that possesses, somehow, darkened his expertises at the tech titan. "I have actually worked on a bunch of products over the course of my occupation at Microsoft, and I have actually enjoyed them all," Ballmer informed me throughout a job interview this month at Intuit Dome facing a reader that included participants of the Youthful Presidents' Institution as well as construction laborers that aided construct the center and their households. "However ... in the growth of this building, I possibly possessed a clearer sight of what I wished to carry out, and also I possess the most fulfillment, certainly not just because it prospered, however [given that] it's a financial investment in the community, as well." Intuit Dome has actually very much been actually a passion task for Ballmer, who sought to guarantee that all enthusiasts have a costs experience. Every chair is actually developed with easy access to concessions as well as washrooms, phone demanding functionalities, as well as adequate lower leg room, regardless of ticket price.Ballmer's sizable investments are actually repaying. The Clippers won 51 activities in the 2023-2024 period, and also completed fourth in the NBA Western Conference. (The Dallas Mavericks dealt with the crew from the playoffs.) As well as Ballmer regularly rates as one of the best NBA owners in enthusiast polls.He is actually an extremely unlikely good example for post-CEO lifestyle. His retired life coming from Microsoft in 2014 after 34 years at the provider and also 13 years as CEO was actually psychological and also filled. Though revenues nearly tripled throughout his period, the assets essentially stagnated, and also the firm overlooked the opportunity to end up being a player in smart phones as well as net services. Under the gun coming from the provider's panel, Ballmer looked for to remodel the business prior to essentially deciding he was actually not the most effective person to relocate Microsoft ahead. A press reporter that recorded his departure coming from Microsoft defined him as "quite unfortunate to leave behind the firm." CEO, reinventedPart of what produces Ballmer a second-act effectiveness account is that he didn't try to recreate his company lifestyle. Somewhat, he seized a possibility to acquire the Clippers after previous co-owner Donald Sterling was actually banned coming from managing the group or linking with the NBA. "Having excessive options may result in choice fatigue, changing to fail possibilities, or even steering clear of deciding altogether," Wilderotter as well as her co-authors claim, urging ex-CEOs to as an alternative redefine their purpose or even identity. (Ballmer is also creator of USAFacts, a detached data company.) Bill George, the previous Medtronic chief executive officer that modify himself as a leadership master after retired life, has actually mentioned that the previous CEOs that grow are actually the ones that discover ways "to make or even support points that will definitely outlive all of them." In the course of our meeting at the stadium, Ballmer resembled this conviction. "Someone informed me once, 'No person ever actually possesses a basketball staff. You handle it. You shepherd it, and you bring it along,'" he claims. "Intuit Dome may be a little bit of what I perform to shepherd this staff throughout. Because it's possessed due to the fans at the end of the day, and also our company only care for it." Are you an one-time chief executive officer in a second act?Are you a previous chief executive officer that has found objective in your second process? Exactly how performed you tackle discovering your new identity? Deliver your ideas and anecdotes to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. I'll discuss one of the most engaging instances in a potential newsletter.Read as well as see a lot more: second acts Put on the absolute most Innovative Companies Awards as well as be identified as a company steering the world onward with innovation. Early-rate due date: Friday, August 23.