Shareholder activists are generally well-intentioned, but they're not always right. They don't always understand board-CEO dynamics or the firm-specific costs and benefits of splitting the CEO-chairman roles.

At each step of the leadership journey, the preparation for successfully making the transition is critical to a positive experience certainly for the leader but also for the organization he or she leads. Transitions are not only the visible shifts from one role to another but, when well executed, leaders are prepared, reflective and are poised to be effective quickly in the new role.

Improving innovation is one of the key competencies that companies often look for when replacing a CEO. Yet committees responsible for recommending candidates often grapple with finding the right person for the job when an innovation emperor like Steve Jobs isn’t available.

If you’re a chief executive officer, your job is to execute. It’s written right into your title. But what does it mean, in terms of daily tasks, to be the company’s top “executer?” After all, CEOs don’t actually build factories or sell products.

One can naturally debate any system that seeks to crown the world’s most innovative companies. Boston Consulting Group’s list, which relies heavily on surveys asking senior executives to name the companies they perceive to be innovative, risks succumbing to the halo effect.

Actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services predict that growth in health spending will begin to increase this year. And that is not a worst-case scenario. How will federal policymakers react to runaway health spending? Not well, if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is any indication.

Most of the people who end up in top jobs have never had any training for or experience in dealing with communicating in a crisis on the big stage. I thought it might be useful to put together a playbook that every leader should have ready for when it hits the fan.