.Hi and welcome to Modern chief executive officer! I am actually Stephanie Mehta, chief executive officer as well as main material officer of Mansueto Ventures. Every week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from chats along with executives and also business owners, and coming from the webpages of Inc. and also Prompt Firm. If you obtained this e-newsletter coming from a good friend, you can easily enroll to receive it your own self every Monday morning.Being a CEO these days is actually challenging: Tensions include delighting shareholders, managing climbing costs and dealing with ongoing supply-chain concerns, and also generating great offices. However, for several executives, being an ex-CEO offers its very own set of challenges. Some problem to cope with the reduction of the advantages and also standing that possess the task, while others feel obliged to observe the well-trodden pathway to private equity or company boards." Yearly, countless execs relinquish long as well as prosperous business jobs. Yet few are actually organized the quest they are about to embark on," former Outpost Communications chief executive officer Maggie Wilderotter announced earlier this year in a Harvard Business Review essay, penned along with occupation trainer Rick Smith and also talent scout Dennis Carey.Life beyond MicrosoftOne past company tribal chief who seems to be to have actually discovered his ground is past Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer. Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers baseball staff for $2 billion in 2014 and also just unveiled the crew's brand-new home, the Intuit Dome. (Rapid Company calls it "Steve Ballmer's $ 2 billion play area for Los Angeles Clippers supporters.") The group and arena have actually provided Ballmer a feeling of function that has, somehow, overshadowed his adventures at the specialist titan. "I have actually focused on a lot of products over the course of my profession at Microsoft, as well as I've liked all of them all," Ballmer told me in the course of a job interview this month at Intuit Dome facing a reader that featured members of the Youthful Presidents' Company and also development employees that helped construct the location and their families. "But ... in the advancement of this structure, I possibly had a clearer viewpoint of what I wanted to carry out, and also I possess the absolute most fulfillment, certainly not even if it thrived, yet [because] it is actually an investment in the community, too." Intuit Dome has quite been actually an interest project for Ballmer, that looked for to guarantee that all enthusiasts possess a premium knowledge. Every chair is actually developed along with very easy access to deals as well as washrooms, phone asking for abilities, and also ample lower leg space, despite ticket price.Ballmer's significant assets are repaying. The Clippers succeeded 51 activities in the 2023-2024 time, and also completed fourth in the NBA Western Event. (The Dallas Mavericks did away with the group from the playoffs.) As well as Ballmer regularly ranks being one of the leading NBA managers in enthusiast polls.He is actually a not likely shining example for post-CEO life. His retired life from Microsoft in 2014 after 34 years at the provider and also thirteen years as CEO was mental and stuffed. Though profits nearly tripled throughout his tenure, the assets practically went stale, and also the business missed out on the option to come to be a gamer in mobile devices and also web services. Struggling from the company's board, Ballmer sought to overhaul the business before eventually choosing he was actually certainly not the very best person to move Microsoft onward. A reporter who told his retirement coming from Microsoft explained him as "very sad to leave behind the firm." CEO, reinventedPart of what makes Ballmer a second-act excellence story is actually that he really did not choose to reproduce his corporate life. Somewhat, he seized a possibility to obtain the Clippers after previous co-owner Donald Sterling was actually banned from managing the group or relating to the NBA. "Having too many options may cause selection tiredness, reverting to default options, or perhaps preventing making a decision altogether," Wilderotter and also her co-authors claim, urging ex-CEOs to rather redefine their reason or identity. (Ballmer is actually additionally owner of USAFacts, a detached data provider.) Expense George, the previous Medtronic CEO that recast himself as a management authority after retired life, has pointed out that the past Chief executive officers who prosper are actually the ones that locate methods "to develop or support points that are going to outlast them." Throughout our interview at the arena, Ballmer reflected this view. "A person informed me when, 'No one ever actually possesses a baseball crew. You take care of it. You shepherd it, and also you bring it along,'" he points out. "Intuit Dome could be a bit of what I carry out to shepherd this crew along. Due to the fact that it is actually possessed by the supporters by the end of the time, and also our company merely handle it." Are you a single CEO in a second act?Are you a previous chief executive officer that possesses located function in your 2nd process? Just how performed you tackle finding your new identity? Send your insights as well as anecdotes to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. I'll share the best compelling instances in a future newsletter.Read and watch even more: second actions Put on the best Cutting-edge Companies Honors and be realized as a company steering the planet forward by means of development. Early-rate due date: Friday, August 23.