Harder Than I Thought

Introduction

Harder Than I Thought invites readers to walk in the shoes of a new CEO, Jim Barton, as he navigates the challenges of transforming a twentieth-century, vertically integrated, defense contractor into a twenty-first-century, virtually integrated, commercial cargo airplane company. Harder Than I Thought is written for new and potential CEO leaders, those working closely with CEOs, such as board and senior leadership team members, those who want to better understand the CEO’s role, students of leadership, and those who are simply curious.

While our story takes place in the context of the aerospace industry, and we do our best to represent details specific to that industry, we strive to address key CEO leadership issues that we believe ...