The CEO Struggle: View From the Top
“In 2007, while running The Huffington Post, I collapsed from stress, burnout, and lack of sleep, breaking my cheekbone on my desk as I fell.”1
Arianna Huffington has since become a vocal advocate for sleep, wellness, and mental health in leadership. But urging exhausted CEOs to get more sleep, exercise or therapy only puts more pressure on their shoulders. It's time to diagnose the problem, look at how CEOs are hired, and the infrastructure that surrounds them.
In this series, senior Amrop Partners draw on their deep conversations with boards, nominating committees and the lonely leaders atop the corporate mountain. As CEO malaise surges, read on for an insider’s view of the weather systems at the summit, and strategies to stay resilient and healthy. In Part 1, we examine the CEO's operating environment.
In the first half of 2025, 1,028 CEOs left their posts in the US alone; a 19% increase from the same period the previous year.2 70% of C-suite executives have said that they are seriously considering quitting for a job that better supports their well-being, with 81% prioritizing their well-being over career advancement.3
Economic downturns shorten a CEO's tenure by an average of 1,5 years.4
The View From The Top
The role of CEO is now almost impossibly demanding. Long hours, continuous stress, ambiguity and risk in a turbulent environment. Responsibility for company performance, culture, employee wellbeing, shareholder and stakeholder demands. Under the spotlight 24/7. The health of top executives is at stake. It affects organizations, the economy, society and even the planet.
What's undermining CEOs? A vicious cycle
- External pressures bear down on the firm and the CEO: The CEO must address persistent demands from share- and stakeholders, intense and unpredictable interactions, short-term financial imperatives,5 fluctuating ESG requirements, and AI ambiguity.
- Corporate systems are complicated and disempowering for the CEO6: CEOs face complex, risk-filled decisions, the need to leverage diverse resources and knowledge. Resource constraints and other blocking forces limit the CEO's scope to make changes.
- The CEO is further compromised by his/her entourage: Boards may favor charismatic, autocratic leaders, undermining democratic/collaborative CEOs. An aggressive, short-term, competitive culture means CEOs conceal their difficulties.
- The CEO becomes isolated: A lack of genuine support from boards, C-suite teams and the CEO's own challenge-avoidance all create isolation. A minority of CEOs turn to addictions or other compulsive behaviors.
- Performance degrades, reinforcing the cycle: Burnout erodes the CEO's strategic thinking, creativity and relationships, harming company culture and performance. The organization’s performance and reputation degrade, placing further pressure on the CEO.
The stressors are accumulating
Fredy Hausammann is Managing Partner of Amrop Switzerland. He calls for realism. “It’s a broad arena of topics and stakeholders. Most CEOs have trouble at some stage. Staff problems, reputational issues, strategic mistakes — they’re happening all the time. I have many examples of people struggling and leaving, struggling and staying, being forced to leave.”
But today’s powerful crosswinds threaten to blow businesses — and leaders — off course. Many have re-configured around ESG imperatives, making costly structural changes. Against a tough economic backdrop and a political backlash, some are now stepping back. The choreography is particularly tricky for firms dealing with the energy transition.
In May 2025, renewables company Ørsted announced the discontinuation of its UK Hornsea 4 project: set to be one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms. Its cancellation would incur break-away costs of 3.5-4.5 bn DKK (469-602 mn EUR). “The entire world is moving faster. Yesterday feels like centuries ago, and tomorrow is almost gone before it started,” says Roland Theuws, Global Leader of Amrop’s Energy and Infrastructure practice.
Meanwhile, nearly 3 in 4 CEOs fear losing their jobs within two years if AI doesn’t deliver. Gartner reports that 30% of generative AI projects had been dropped by end 2025.6
Virtual bits and bytes have tangible outcomes. Many organizations have still not fully solved post-COVID hybrid working as they strive to balance employee autonomy with control and cultural bonding. “That clouded environment adds to the plate of CEOs,” notes Sandy McKenzie, a Managing Partner of Amrop UK. “You're dealing with morale issues: big and difficult decisions in large organizations.”
“It causes a constant ego depletion,” says Joseph Teperman, Managing Partner of Amrop Brazil. The CHRO of a 20,000 employee-company recently told him that cases of employees with depression or suicidal thoughts had risen from around 10 pre-Covid, to 300 today. “We have to examine anthropologically what the lockdown caused.”
Isolation and attrition
Naohiro "Nakki" Furuta is CEO and Managing Partner of Amrop Jomon Associates in Japan, and a member of the Amrop Global Board. He is interested in the cumulative effects of pressure. “A CEO needs time to relax or escape.” An overseas business trip once provided temporary relief from offices, computers, and phones. Universal connectivity has cut off that escape route. When a CEO is deprived of downtime, attrition can set in. “Day by day, it's manageable. But over 6 months or a year, it builds and passes a threshold you can’t manage.”
Such cases typically lie under the radar. Fredy Hausammann confirms that a CEO’s isolation is rarely labelled as a health issue. “Usually, it's a 'company crisis: strategy, reputation, the CEO has lost the trust of the organization'. Most have been suffering stress for some time, but it's not yet surfaced as that. By the time they must step down, they will be physically or mentally unwell.”
Servant or sovereign leadership? What’s your style?
Who will the board choose to lead an organization in unpredictable times, where the bottom line is under constant threat? Over recent years, the focus has turned to holistic, democratic (participative) leadership: collaboration, engagement, transparency, empowerment, and humility.
Is the era of the charismatic monarch over? Some CEO departures suggest it is. Compare the noisy exits of Adam Neumann (WeWork), or Uber’s Travis Kalanick with the sustained tenure of Larry Page (Google/Alphabet) or Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo). And yet, the quiet, consensus-driven Parag Agrawal was fired as CEO of Twitter after its acquisition by Elon Musk in 2022. Where does the truth lie? If we consider authoritarian and democratic leadership as a spectrum, narcissism (itself a spectrum), lies at one extreme.
A Stanford research team explored narcissism in the CEO population.7 It found that the vast majority score high on ‘conscientiousness’ and ‘openness’. Only around 1 in 10 were ‘introverted’, ‘disagreeable’ or ‘neurotic.’ But even if half scored low on the narcissism scale, 18% did qualify - a prevalence 3 times that of the general US population (5%).
An aggressive culture creates yet more pressure
But do boards genuinely appreciate this quiet strength? Some bias towards autocratic leadership persists — despite narcissism impacting stock-price performance.8 Emilie Boullet Lacoste, a Partner with Amrop NESS in France, observes: “These people terrorize the board. No-one dares contradict them. There are more of them than we might believe.”
An aggressive culture places yet more pressure on the purposeful, democratic CEO, who can be accused of taking too long to make decisions, and manipulation by more forceful, Machiavellian personalities.9 It may also breed individualism and personal empire-building in the C-suite (this is the behavior I’ll be promoted for). In this environment, a struggling CEO may be even less likely to sound the alarm with the board. “The CEO has a facade to uphold,” says Joseph Teperman. 
Nakki Furuta raises another bias swaying boards and nominating committees — the ‘like me’ syndrome. Board members are often ex-CEOs or chairs of high performing companies and possess considerable self-confidence. Do they favor a CEO that resembles them? “In the last 5 years, we saw these cases in several Japanese public companies.” So, some boards are still drawn by ego and power? “Very much so.”
Joseph Teperman recalls one CEO interviewee “cutting me and talking directly to the chairman.” He alerted the client: “There’s something going on. Let’s raise the reference.” The client dismissed his concerns. “I'm going to take the risk. It's a turnaround.” Only a month later, he admitted that the hire had been a mistake.
Constant external scrutiny – not all fair
“The CEO is 24/7 with everything they do: in the airport, club or bakery, says Joseph Teperman. “Everybody is self-censoring.” CEOs have always faced keen internal scrutiny. But whereas what happened in the elevator might have stayed in the elevator, this is no longer the case. And any ‘information’ running loose in the streets may well be distorted or false.
“The pressure on CEOs is further accelerated by the media and certain investor communities,” says Fredy Hausammann. The Netflix documentary, “Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel” broadcast lacerating interviews with the company’s insiders and former staff, as it mercilessly tracked the fashion retailer’s downfall under the “instinctive” leadership of founder and ex-CEO Dov Charney. Footage of Charney’s unfiltered behavior lit up 7.8 million screens within a week of the film’s release.10
Alone on a bare mountain
However robust their team, a CEO must ultimately face the weather solo. But CEOs may work against their own interests. “Because of information overload, they have a hard time listening to people who challenge them,” says Emilie Boullet Lacoste. “They fear for their jobs, for revolution, and they are isolated — they create this isolation themselves, of course.”
“Organizations don’t care enough about the health of their CEOs,” says Joseph Teperman. “The CEO is alone and always has been: pressured by the board, the market, employees.” Surely the chair should help? “100%,” says Roland Theuws. “But those are the same people that can kick you out.” The CEO must take the risk of opening up, “It’s part the job. So, it must be clear from the beginning that the dialogue is there.”
"Most CEOs have trouble at some stage. Staff problems, reputational issues, strategic mistakes — they’re happening all the time."
Isolated CEO, widespread impact
When a CEO is suffering, so do relationships, stakeholder interests and corporate performance. Burnout causes an array of debilitating effects.12 Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. A drop in involvement, commitment, and energy. Difficulties thinking clearly and processing information, as cognitive and emotional resources fall away, compromising strategic skills and creativity. Unsurprisingly, the afflicted CEO loses self-confidence and self-efficacy.13 Making things worse, burnout makes us less willing and able to seek vital help.
So, the embattled CEO withdraws, seeking relief in simplicity and mental shortcuts. A minority even self-medicate.14 Big picture thinking is replaced by refuge in bureaucracy and rote solutions. A minority engage in misplaced coping strategies: addictions and compulsions. Others become outright hostile.
Travis Kalanick, ex-CEO and co-founder of Uber, was widely criticized for aggression and ethical misdemeanors. His departure was beset by allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and a $2,6 billion lawsuit from Waymo. Kalanick has since claimed that he had been worn down by a six-month “political oppo” campaign by his investor. It was during leave following his mother’s death a month earlier that he received the formal demand to resign. He could no longer cope, signaling the end of his tenure.15
Few senior executives have escaped the fallout created by a struggling leader. Roland Theuws recalls a female executive who joined the board of a 1-billion-euro firm after an upbeat interview with the CEO. Reality quickly dawned, as his autocratic behavior drained her energy. "People with dictatorial, heroic bosses tend to burn out much quicker. If you have a micromanager who is pushing you to the limits every day, your family life is going to suffer. Everything will.”
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The CEO Struggle: View From the Top
DownloadReferences
1 Misra, R., (Dec 11, 2023). An Interview with Arianna Huffington: “Taking stress seriously is something all leaders should do.” www.walkingonearth.com.
2 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, (2025). CEO Turnover Slows in May, but 2025 exits hit record high.
3 Fisher, J., Silvergate, P.H., (2022). The C-suite's Role in Well-being. Deloitte Insights. A survey of executives in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
4 Hayes, J., (2024). CEOs Quit In Record Numbers in 2023. Here Are 3 Solutions. Forbes, Feb 26, 2024
5 Sirén, C., et al. (2018). CEO burnout, managerial discretion, and firm performance: The role of CEO locus of control, structural power, and organizational factors. Long Range Planning 51 (2018) 953–9716
6 Tilo, D., (19 Mar 2025). Nearly 3 in 4 CEOs worried about losing job if AI doesn't deliver: survey. (Based on a Dataiku survey of over 500 CEOs in the US, UK, France, and Germany). HRD.
7 Tynan, B (Stanford University) (2021). Are Narcissistic CEOs All That Bad? Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. Directors assessed their CEO’s personality using the (abbreviated) Big Five Model (personality traits) and narcissism (NPI test). Narcissism characterized as “an inflated sense of self-importance, an excessive need for attention and admiration, and lack of empathy,”
8 Stock price performance expressed by the research team “in absolute terms and relative to the S&P 500”. The researchers also found that narcissistic CEOs oversee companies with higher ESG scores than less narcissistic CEOs and were more likely to run companies with good governance features. They note that these results are open to interpretation and could be attributed to other factors (in the case of EST, ‘disingenuous virtue-signalling.’
9 Northwest Executive Education, (2025). What is Democratic Leadership Style?
10 White, P., (July 8, 2025). Netflix’s Trainwreck Documentaries, Helped by Pool Cruises and American Apparel, Show Why Streamer Is Scheduling More Carnage. Deadline.
11 Tabrizi, B., (2015). 75% of Cross-Functional Teams are Dysfunctional. Harvard Business Review, June 23. A study of 95 teams in 25 leading corporations, chosen by a leading panel of academics and experts).
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13 Lopez-Garrido G., (May 1, 2025). Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory Of Motivation in Psychology. Simply Psychology. "Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance outcomes. It’s the confidence in one’s ability to influence events and control over one’s environment."
14 Washton, A.M., (August 17, 2023). Drinking in the C-suite. How top-level executive positions can facilitate or hide major addiction. Psychology Today.
15 Yip, J., (Sept 13, 2024). Travis Kalanick reflects on what it was like being ousted from Uber, and why he doesn't 'think about the ex very much.' Business Insider.