Think Like a CEO Before You Become One:
A Review of Shiv Shivkumar’s The CEO Mindset
What forty years in the corner office really teaches you — and why this book is required reading for every leader
There’s no shortage of leadership books. So when a new one lands on your desk, the fair question is: does this one actually say something different?
In the case of Shiv Shivkumar’s The CEO Mindset, the answer is a confident yes.
I recently had the pleasure of connecting with Shiv briefly during my time with this book — and what struck me most wasn’t just his ideas on paper. It was his energy in person. He speaks the way he writes: with clarity, warmth, and zero pretence. There’s no gap between the leader he describes and the person he is. That authenticity is rare, and it makes everything in this book land differently.
Shiv is one of India’s most storied corporate leaders — someone who led Nokia to become India’s most trusted mobile brand, transformed PepsiCo India’s portfolio, and later served as Group Executive President at Aditya Birla Group. Published by Penguin Random House, The CEO Mindset distils over four decades of wisdom into a practical and deeply human guide, drawing on perspectives from thirteen leaders across industries to give it genuine breadth.
Here’s the gist of what makes it so good.
The CHARLIE Framework: Seven Pillars of the CEO Mindset
At the heart of the book is CHARLIE — a framework that maps the seven non-negotiable pillars of effective CEO thinking. Together, they aren’t just a checklist — they’re a philosophy of leadership that puts character at the foundation of strategy.
What Does “CEO” Really Stand For?
Here’s where Shiv gets genuinely provocative. He challenges us to think beyond the literal title. A Chief Executive Officer is just one way of understanding the role. The real job, he argues, is far richer:
Read these together and you begin to understand why the CEO role is genuinely unlike any other.
The 3 P’s: How Do You Actually Get to the Top?
One of the most talked-about sections of the book is its bracingly honest answer to career progression.
Most people accept the first P and bristle at the other two. Shiv doesn’t let you off the hook. Exceptional performance is necessary — but rarely sufficient. How others perceive you matters enormously. And organisational politics, whether we like it or not, is the water in which careers swim. The message: you can engage with all three ethically.
CEO Habits That Set Leaders Apart: PERT
The book doesn’t just describe what great leaders think — it maps what they do daily. The PERT model is deceptively simple, and compounded across a career, transformative.
The Four Fatal Habits: What Will Derail You
These are the habits that quietly sabotage even talented leaders. The sobering truth: they aren’t traps only bad leaders fall into — they’re traps good leaders fall into when they stop paying attention to themselves.
Engagement, Boards, and the MBA Question
Shiv is equally practical on the texture of day-to-day leadership. He advocates for a consistent rhythm of engagement — weekly transparency emails, monthly town halls, personal birthday acknowledgements, family video calls, walking the floor informally. The principle: consistency beats grand gestures every time. People don’t leave companies; they leave leaders who stopped paying attention.
On boards, his argument is that CEOs who serve on other companies’ boards gain something invaluable — the outside-in view. Different industries, different challenges, different patterns. It’s one of the most underused development tools available to senior leaders.
And on the question I found most fascinating: does an MBA actually prepare you for the CEO role?
Shiv went to the source — B-school professors and deans — and the answers were refreshingly candid. An MBA sharpens analytical thinking and opens doors. But the qualities that most define effective CEOs — decisiveness under uncertainty, emotional intelligence, the resilience to fail publicly and recover — are not well-served by case studies. They are forged in experience. The most important skill of all? Learning how to learn.
The Verdict
The CEO Mindset won’t make you feel clever. It will make you feel accountable.
Shiv writes with the authority of someone who has tested these principles at Nokia, PepsiCo, and Aditya Birla Group — and the generosity of someone who genuinely wants the next generation of leaders to get there faster and do it better. What sets it apart is its honesty: it names the traps, acknowledges the politics, and gives you practical tools without reducing leadership to a formula.
Whether you’re a first-time manager, a mid-career professional plotting your next move, or a sitting CEO auditing your own habits — this book will give you something to think about, and more importantly, something to do.
“Leadership is a mindset, not a title.”
— Shiv Shivkumar, The CEO Mindset🎧 Go deeper: listen to Shiv in his own words
Reading the book is one thing — hearing Shiv speak is another. His energy and perspective come through powerfully in conversation. I’d strongly recommend both of these to complement your reading.
The CEO Mindset — Shiv Shivkumar
Penguin Random House India · 240 pages