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Why have CEOs become the cultural icons of the 21st century?

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Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have become the cultural icons of
the 21st century. Figures like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are held up
as role models who epitomise the modern pursuit of innovation, wealth and
success. We now live, Bloom and Rhodes argue, in a ´CEO society´ - a society
where corporate leadership has become the model for transforming not just
business, but all spheres of life, where everyone from politicians to
jobseekers to even those seeking love are expected to imitate the qualities of the lionized corporate
executive.

But why, in the wake of the failings exposed by the 2008 financial
crisis, does the corporate ideal continue to exert such a grip on popular
attitudes? In this insightful new book, Bloom and Rhodes examine the rise of the CEO
society, and how it has started to transform governments, culture and the
economy. This influence, they argue, holds troubling implications for the
future of democracy - as evidenced by the disturbing political rise of Donald Trump in the US - and for our society as a whole.

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Introduction: The Threat and Promise of CEO Salvation

1. Welcome to the CEO Society

2. The Idolisation of the CEO

3. Competing in the Executive Economy

4. The CEO Politician

5. The CEO as a Model for Living

6. The Generous CEO?

7. The Bad Faith of CEO Salvation

Afterword: The High Cost of the CEO Society

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