What makes a great CEO? And what does it take to become one?
Patina works beside a small number of CEOs who sense there’s another gear and want help finding it, through CEO Counsel or The Seat.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” Carl Jung
You can’t see your own blind spots. That’s what makes them blind.
Owning and running a business is a powerful mirror. The longer you do it, the more clearly you see your own flaws. And the bigger the business gets, the bigger the reflection. Your strengths reach more people. So do your blind spots.
The CEO matters. Leading is a privilege because it forces you to grow, and fast. You learn to show up for yourself, your inner circle, your company, and your customers.
That growth goes better with someone in your corner: someone who has sat in your seat, wants you to win, and will hold you to the standard you’re capable of.
Chase Murdock Founder, Patina
CEO for the first decade of his career. Since then, an owner, investor, and counsel to dozens of CEOs across 20+ companies, including Decada Group, which he co-founded.
“The CEO matters more than most are willing to admit. I learned that in the chair, and again from across the table, hiring, backing, and sometimes replacing them. The work I love most is helping a CEO find a gear they never knew existed.”
AboutSix beliefs behind the work.
Most engagements come back to the same aim: a business built to serve the person running it.
Awareness, then intention.
What you can see, you can choose on purpose.
A few decisions, made well.
A CEO’s job is a handful of big calls a year. Not a 60-hour week.
Fear corrodes.
It’s the worst emotion for decision quality. Name it, and treat it as normal.
Structure beats discipline.
Good structure carries what willpower can’t.
Slow on one-way doors.
Move fast on what you can walk back. Go slow on what you can’t.
Your own dartboard.
Each CEO defines the win. The work is helping you hit it.
From the seat, not the sidelines.
In the mechanics.
Structure, cash, governance, deals. The places most counsel won’t go.
Tools built with you.
Often live, in the session, so the work doesn’t slip to next time.
Open to being wrong.
When the case is made, the view changes.
A straight answer.
Ask what to do, and get a straight answer.
Two ways to work together.
Both are one to one. They differ in how the time is shaped.
The Seat
A six-month program on a fixed arc, with a beginning and an end.
Start here if you want structure and a clear finish line, or this is your first time working with a counsel.
Six themes, worked through one to one. You leave with the instruments to run the business, and a clear read on whether to go further.
CEO Counsel
A standing relationship with no set end.
Start here if something big is already on your plate, or you’ve finished The Seat and want to keep going.
Sessions every three weeks, with email and short calls between. The agenda is whatever the business brings, and the number of CEOs stays small.
Built for depth.
Who it’s for.
CEOs and founders at a moment that matters, whether the business is bootstrapped, family-owned, venture-backed, or backed by private equity. The founder who has outgrown leading by force of will. The CEO with something big on the plate: a deal just closed, a round just raised. The CEO in a hard stretch, who knows there’s another gear. Sometimes it’s 2 partners running the business together.
Sometimes an investor or board brings Patina in because they want the CEO to win. The work is with the CEO, and it stays with the CEO.
The format.
The number of CEOs stays small on purpose. Sessions run 60 or 90 minutes every 3 weeks, with email and short calls between. No set end, and no agenda beyond the one the business brings.
What we work on.
True levers: the few decisions that move the outcome. Time and cadence: where your week goes, and the rhythm the company runs on. Work and life: using the business to build a life, not consume one.
How it begins.
It’s offered, not sold. It begins with a conversation, a referral, or after The Seat. Some engagements start with a focused sprint on one problem and grow from there.
It starts with a conversation.
Share a little about the business and what’s on your plate.