.Hello there and appreciated to Modern CEO! I'm Stephanie Mehta, chief executive officer and also chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Weekly this e-newsletter checks out inclusive techniques to leadership reasoned chats along with executives as well as entrepreneurs, and coming from the pages of Inc. and also Fast Company. If you got this e-newsletter from a friend, you can subscribe to acquire it your own self every Monday morning.Being a CEO in these times is challenging: Pressures feature fulfilling shareholders, dealing with rising costs as well as fixing ongoing supply-chain concerns, as well as creating excellent workplaces. But for lots of managers, being actually an ex-CEO provides its own set of difficulties. Some struggle to manage the loss of the perks as well as status that include the job, while others experience obliged to observe the well-trodden road to personal equity or company panels." Annually, countless execs retire from long as well as effective business careers. But couple of are prepared for the adventure they will embark on," previous Frontier Communications CEO Maggie Wilderotter declared earlier this year in a Harvard Organization Evaluation essay, penciled along with occupation instructor Rick Smith and talent scout Dennis Carey.Life beyond MicrosoftOne previous business tribal chief that seems to be to have actually located his footing is actually former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers basketball group for $2 billion in 2014 and also merely introduced the crew's new home, the Intuit Dome. (Prompt Provider calls it "Steve Ballmer's $ 2 billion playground for LA Clippers enthusiasts.") The staff as well as arena have given Ballmer a feeling of objective that has, in some ways, overshadowed his knowledge at the technician giant. "I have actually worked with a great deal of products throughout my career at Microsoft, as well as I have actually loved all of them all," Ballmer told me throughout a meeting this month at Intuit Dome before an audience that featured members of the Young Presidents' Institution along with building and construction laborers that helped create the amenities as well as their households. "Yet ... in the progression of this particular structure, I probably had a more clear viewpoint of what I intended to do, and also I possess the absolute most satisfaction, not just because it thrived, yet [since] it's a financial investment in the community, as well." Intuit Dome has actually quite been actually a passion job for Ballmer, that found to ensure that all supporters have a superior expertise. Every chair is developed along with quick and easy access to deals and also washrooms, phone charging capabilities, and also sufficient leg room, despite ticket price.Ballmer's sizable investments are paying. The Clippers gained 51 games in the 2023-2024 period, and also finished fourth in the NBA Western Conference. (The Dallas Mavericks dealt with the group coming from the playoffs.) And also Ballmer often places being one of the top NBA owners in enthusiast polls.He is actually an unlikely shining example for post-CEO life. His retirement from Microsoft in 2014 after 34 years at the business and thirteen years as chief executive officer was actually emotional as well as fraught. Though profits virtually tripled during the course of his period, the share basically went stale, as well as the firm skipped the possibility to become a gamer in cell phones and also internet solutions. Struggling coming from the company's board, Ballmer found to revamp the firm before inevitably determining he was certainly not the very best person to move Microsoft onward. A press reporter that told his separation coming from Microsoft defined him as "really unfortunate to leave behind the business." CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, reinventedPart of what makes Ballmer a second-act effectiveness account is that he didn't try to reproduce his company life. Rather, he confiscated an opportunity to obtain the Clippers after previous co-owner Donald Sterling was actually banned from running the crew or even linking with the NBA. "Having excessive choices can lead to selection fatigue, returning to default possibilities, and even steering clear of making a decision completely," Wilderotter and her co-authors say, recommending ex-CEOs to instead redefine their purpose or identity. (Ballmer is also creator of USAFacts, a detached data company.) Bill George, the former Medtronic chief executive officer who recast himself as a leadership expert after retirement life, has claimed that the past Chief executive officers that grow are the ones that find methods "to make or support traits that are going to outlive them." Throughout our meeting at the stadium, Ballmer resembled this belief. "Someone informed me as soon as, 'No person ever really has a baseball staff. You handle it. You shepherd it, and you bring it along,'" he claims. "Intuit Dome may be a little bit of what I carry out to shepherd this team throughout. Due to the fact that it is actually possessed due to the fans by the end of the time, and our experts simply deal with it." Are you a single CEO in a second act?Are you a past chief executive officer that possesses found objective in your 2nd act? How did you deal with discovering your brand new identity? Deliver your knowledge and anecdotes to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. I'll discuss one of the most compelling instances in a future newsletter.Read as well as view extra: 2nd actions Apply to the Most Innovative Providers Awards as well as be acknowledged as an association steering the globe forward through innovation. Early-rate due date: Friday, August 23.