in the nitty-gritty of their companies: pay bands, employee hours, and specific product processes. As companies got larger, the role of the CEO became a little more macro-oriented — bigger strategic and dealmaking calls rather than day-to-day operations — but ultimately responsible for the end result. CEOs continued to generally work their way up into the position and stay enmeshed in the culture, while keeping a broader eye across various levels of product and management.
A good CEO does have a lot of roles — they are a salesperson, a recruiter, a fundraiser and a morale-booster — but they are all in service of the company's goals rather than their own pay package. They're able to balance hands-on management with clear delegation that makes subordinates confident the CEO understands the task and why the deputy in question is the right person to execute it.
Getting fit, because of the running (of the 3 companies) all day long...