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.

Peter Bloom heads the People and Organisations Department at the Open University, UK. His research critically examines the everyday practices of capitalism and democracy and their implications for work and life. Peters recent books include Authoritarian Capitalism in the Age of Globalization (2016) andThe Ethics of Neoliberalism: The Business of Making Capitalism Moral (2017), while his writing has featured inThe Washington Post, The Guardian, The Independent, The New Statesmen, The Week, The Conversationand Open Democracy among others.

Carl Rhodes is Professor of Organisation Studies at UTS Business School in Sydney, Australia. He has published numerous books and papers concerning the ethical and political dimensions of business and working life. He recently publishedThe Companion to Ethics, Politics and Organizations (2015, with Alison Pullen), and regularly writes for the mainstream and independent press, where his articles can be found inThe Guardian, New Matilda, The Conversation, Independent Australia,and Open Democracy.

Introduction: The Threat and Promise of CEO Salvation1. Welcome to the CEO Society2. The Idolisation of the CEO3. Competing in the Executive Economy4. The CEO Politician5. The CEO as a Model for Living6. The Generous CEO?7. The Bad Faith of CEO SalvationAfterword: The High Cost of the CEO Society