.Hey there and also appreciated to Modern CEO! I'm Stephanie Mehta, chief executive officer and primary content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this e-newsletter looks into comprehensive methods to management drawn from talks along with managers and business people, and also coming from the web pages of Inc. and Rapid Provider. If you acquired this newsletter from a close friend, you may enroll to obtain it yourself every Monday morning.Being a chief executive officer in today times is actually difficult: Tensions consist of delighting shareholders, handling increasing expenses and dealing with recurring supply-chain concerns, and producing terrific work environments. But for a lot of managers, being an ex-CEO offers its personal set of difficulties. Some problem to deal with the loss of the benefits and also standing that possess the project, while others really feel obliged to follow the well-trodden road to private equity or even business boards." Annually, hundreds of executives relinquish long and also prosperous corporate careers. But handful of are actually planned for the adventure they are about to embark on," previous Outpost Communications chief executive officer Maggie Wilderotter stated earlier this year in a Harvard Organization Testimonial essay, penned along with occupation coach Rick Smith and also talent scout Dennis Carey.Life past MicrosoftOne former corporate chieftain who seems to be to have located his footing is actually former Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer. Ballmer acquired the Los Angeles Clippers basketball crew for $2 billion in 2014 and also only revealed the team's brand-new home, the Intuit Dome. (Prompt Company calls it "Steve Ballmer's $ 2 billion playing field for Los Angeles Clippers enthusiasts.") The staff and also field have given Ballmer a feeling of purpose that possesses, in some ways, eclipsed his expertises at the technology giant. "I've dealt with a bunch of products throughout my job at Microsoft, and also I've adored all of them all," Ballmer told me in the course of an interview this month at Intuit Dome in front of an audience that included members of the Young Presidents' Organization as well as development employees that assisted construct the establishment as well as their family members. "But ... in the advancement of the building, I probably possessed a clearer perspective of what I would like to do, and I have the absolute most fulfillment, not even if it turned out well, but [considering that] it's an expenditure in the neighborhood, as well." Intuit Dome has significantly been an interest project for Ballmer, who found to make sure that all supporters have a superior knowledge. Every seat is actually created with very easy accessibility to giving ins and washrooms, phone asking for capacities, and sufficient lower leg space, regardless of ticket price.Ballmer's sizable assets are repaying. The Clippers gained 51 video games in the 2023-2024 season, and completed fourth in the NBA Western Event. (The Dallas Mavericks dealt with the staff from the playoffs.) And Ballmer routinely rates being one of the top NBA managers in follower polls.He is actually an improbable role model for post-CEO life. His retirement from Microsoft in 2014 after 34 years at the business and thirteen years as CEO was actually psychological as well as filled. Though incomes almost tripled during the course of his period, the share basically stagnated, as well as the provider skipped the opportunity to become a player in mobile phones and internet solutions. Under the gun coming from the business's panel, Ballmer sought to remodel the company before essentially making a decision he was actually not the greatest individual to move Microsoft onward. A media reporter who narrated his separation from Microsoft explained him as "very saddening to leave the provider." CEO, reinventedPart of what produces Ballmer a second-act excellence account is actually that he really did not attempt to reproduce his corporate life. Somewhat, he seized a chance to obtain the Clippers after previous co-owner Donald Sterling was actually prohibited from operating the team or even relating to the NBA. "Possessing excessive choices can lead to choice tiredness, changing to fail options, or even staying clear of making a decision altogether," Wilderotter and her co-authors claim, urging ex-CEOs to as an alternative redefine their reason or even identity. (Ballmer is likewise owner of USAFacts, a nonpartisan information firm.) Expense George, the previous Medtronic chief executive officer that modify himself as a leadership expert after retired life, has said that the former Chief executive officers that flourish are actually the ones that discover methods "to generate or even nurture traits that will outlast them." During the course of our interview at the arena, Ballmer echoed this conviction. "Someone told me as soon as, 'No person ever definitely has a basketball team. You handle it. You shepherd it, and also you carry it along,'" he points out. "Intuit Dome could be a little bit of what I carry out to shepherd this staff along. Because it's owned due to the followers by the end of the day, as well as our team only take care of it." Are you an one-time chief executive officer in a 2nd act?Are you a former CEO who possesses located objective in your 2nd action? How did you engage in locating your brand new identity? Deliver your understandings and also anecdotes to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. I'll discuss the absolute most convincing instances in a potential newsletter.Read as well as see extra: second acts Put on the Most Impressive Firms Awards as well as be actually identified as an institution driving the globe onward through development. Early-rate due date: Friday, August 23.