The Absurdities of Being a CEO - A Calm, Exhausting, Slightly Uncomfortable Study of Power, Responsibility, and Pretending Everything Is Fine
By Max Paradox
Length3h 22m
About this audiobook
What does it actually feel like to be a CEO?
Not the version from podcasts.
Not the keynote version.
Not the one with confidence, certainty, and perfect answers.
This book is a sharp, observant, and often uncomfortably accurate satire of executive life-from the inside. It follows the quiet transformation that happens when a person becomes “leadership,” and slowly stops being treated like a person at all.
Written in short, precise prose with dry humor and surgical honesty, The Absurdities of Being a CEO explores meetings where decisions disappear, confidence that is mostly fatigue standing upright, authority that isolates, and power that turns into emotional labor.
This is not a guide.
This is not motivation.
This is not advice.
It is recognition.
If you are a CEO, founder, executive, or senior leader, you will feel seen-possibly too seen.
If you are not, you will finally understand why people at the top sound the way they do.
A book for anyone who has ever carried responsibility quietly and wondered when it became normal.
This publication was prepared using tools that support the creative process, including solutions based on artificial intelligence. The final concept, structure, and editing are the work of the author.
Audiobook details
GenreHumor, Other
Length3 hrs 22 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateAug 25, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1INTRO
2Chapter 1 – The Title Changes Everything
3Chapter 2 – Meetings Are Where Decisions Go to Disappear
4Chapter 3 – Everyone Thinks You’re Confident
5Chapter 4 – You Are Paid to Be the Filter
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter 5 – Authority Feels Different Than You Imagined
7Chapter 6 – You Stop Getting Honest Feedback
8Chapter 7 – Decision Fatigue Is Not What You Think
9Chapter 8 – You Are Never Fully Off
10Chapter 9 – Growth Sounds Better Than It Feels
11Chapter 10 – Vision Is Mostly Translation
12Chapter 11 – You Become the Default Explanation
13Chapter 12 – Strategy Is Mostly Saying No
14Chapter 13 – Power Is Mostly Emotional Labor
15Chapter 14 – You Miss Being Wrong Out Loud
16Chapter 15 – Success Makes You Harder to Read
17Chapter 16 – You Learn That Loyalty Is Contextual
18Chapter 17 – You Stop Believing in Urgency
19Chapter 18 – You Start Measuring Things No One Sees
20Chapter 19 – You Become Very Careful With Promises
21Chapter 20 – You Realize How Much of This Is Acting
22Chapter 21 – You Start Thinking in Systems, Not People
23Chapter 22 – You Learn That Control Is an Illusion
24Chapter 23 – You Stop Expecting Gratitude
25Chapter 24 – You Start Valuing Boring Stability
26Chapter 25 – You Understand Why CEOs Sound Vague
27Chapter 26 – You Learn That Presence Matters More Than Answers
28Chapter 27 – You Discover How Alone the Role Actually Is
29Chapter 28 – You Stop Trying to Be Liked
30Chapter 29 – You Redefine What Winning Means
31Chapter 30 – You Start Preparing for Your Own Absence
32Chapter 31 – You Stop Needing to Be the Smartest Person in the Room
33Chapter 32 – You Notice How Much Silence Actually Says
34Chapter 33 – You Learn That Transparency Has Limits
35Chapter 34 – You Begin to Think About What Remains
36Chapter 35 – You Leave Differently Than You Arrived
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