The CEO Mirage - Seeing Through the Illusions of Business Leadership
ABOUT THE BOOK: THE CEO MIRAGE
Leading a business-or just managing the illusion of success?
In today's high-pressure business world, CEOs and founders are often celebrated for vision, charisma, and bold strategies. But behind the spotlight, many leaders fall victim to illusions-false beliefs about growth, culture, and control that ultimately bring companies down. The CEO Mirage strips away these illusions and exposes the leadership traps that undermine even the most talented executives.
Drawing on over twenty-five years of experience across global sports, retail, startups, and private equity, John B. Gearing delivers a brutally honest assessment of modern leadership. From boardroom politics to founder myths, he reveals how ego, optimism, and misplaced confidence can create the illusion of success-while quietly eroding the foundation of the business.
BUY THE BOOK
ILLUSIONS OF LEADERSHIP
The Strategy Illusion
Organisations spend enormous time discussing strategy while execution quietly deteriorates.
The Loyalty Trap
Promoting loyalty over competence slowly poisons organisations.
The Superstar CEO Myth
Charisma and storytelling do not build businesses. Systems, teams and operational discipline do.
The Meeting Economy
Corporate life increasingly rewards activity rather than results.
What Leaders Are Saying
THE CEO COACHING PROGRAM
The CEO Mirage started as a book. It became the foundation for a coaching programme.
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Working one-to-one with a small number of CEOs and senior leaders, John uses the frameworks in the book as a structured lens on your business — applied directly to the decisions, relationships, and pressures you are navigating right now.
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What the programme involves
Six months. Two sessions per month. One session works through the book's themes chapter by chapter, stress-testing them against your specific context. The second is a live working session on whatever is most pressing — a decision, a team issue, a strategic inflection point.
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It is not mentoring. It is not therapy. It is direct, structured thinking support from someone who has run businesses, made the mistakes, and knows what the illusions look like from the inside.
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Who it is for
CEOs and founders who are performing but want a sharper, more honest outside perspective. Leaders preparing for a step up. Executives navigating complexity that their immediate team cannot help them think through objectively.
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The fee is £1,500 per month.
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Engagements are limited to ensure John works with a small number of clients at any time.​
