No one goes into business thinking “I want to be a middle manager – then I’ll have succeeded”, and the truth is that pretty much everyone within an organisation has thought at least once that they could probably do a better job of running their company than the Chief Exec.

But as George Bernard Shaw famously mused, “There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it.” And at no time is this more true than when that final promotion happens and you find yourself sitting in the CEO’s office.

For usually confident, high-flying business people, it can be a significant shock to the system to realise that being the CEO hasn’t made them quite as happy as they thought it would during all those years of hard slog and shameless corporate ladder-climbing. So what has changed?

Often the job is fairly familiar even if the responsibility has grown. And their ability is still the same. The difference in most cases however is that ‘staff’ – even if you’re towards the top of the management tree – usually stick together, whereas the CEO? Well, mostly they’re on their own.

Almost every CEO describes their role as lonely in some ways, with the main reason being that they feel they cannot share all their fears with their colleagues or their board members.

They feel they are expected to know all the answers, show no fear and stay positive at all times, otherwise their authority will crumble and their business will do likewise. But as another great writer, John Donne, said: “No man is an island”, and this goes for the CEO as much as the rest of the organisation.

There are numerous reasons why the CEO might feel they have been backed into a rather lonely corner, but often it is because they haven’t hired colleagues of the right quality or don’t have the right board members in place.

Just as Obama and even J-Lo are surrounded by their own coterie of trusted advisers, supporters and ‘do-ers’, so a CEO needs to make sure that they have the back-up of their colleagues. Crucially, this does not mean you want an entourage of ‘yes-men’.

By involving your colleagues in the decision-making process, decisions are of better quality and are implemented with greater commitment and passion, and as the CEO you can be confident that you are being balanced as well as supported by your team.

Sharing your problems and concerns is not a weakness, and in the long run it will actually earn you trust and respect. Build up a culture of openness and lead by example by engaging with the business and consulting the team on matters of importance.

Concerned that sales have taken a nose-dive? Talk to people and find out what can be done about it. Sitting alone in your fancy office stewing about a client complaint? Share it with the team and ask for their help in resolving it.

It may be a cliché but a problem shared really is a problem halved, and the sooner you can make this part of the way you work, the sooner you’ll really start enjoying being the CEO.

Many CEOs and MDs will tell you that their people are their biggest asset, yet spend less time on the selection process than they do on deciding what font to use in their latest presentation.

Even larger organisations with HR departments and formalised recruitment procedures can be woefully bad at really making sure the people they hire are the right ones for the job. Sure, they may force candidates to endure three interviews and a battery of psychometric tests, but none of this is worth a dime if they’re not actually testing them on the things that matter – their attitude, their ability and their potential.

There are lots of reasons why hiring well can be scuppered from the start. Particularly in smaller businesses it can be hard to make the time to really put a candidate through their paces, and convenience wins out over rigour.

In addition hiring can often be a knee-jerk reaction – ‘we’ve won some business, we’re over-stretched, we need to hire!’ – and the recruitment process is started from a base of panic, without anyone taking time to really define the role that needs filling, let alone the qualities required to fill it.

But hire in haste, repent at leisure – getting the wrong person in can cost your business a fortune in terms of time, money, morale and reputation.

So how do you know when it’s time to call it a day with a specific employee? In general, if you’re even thinking of firing someone because of an attitude problem, then you probably should have done it yesterday.

However, if the attitude is right but the performance is under par it may be worth looking at other factors prior to making the decision. Changes in the office or with client requirements, pressures at home, illness or simply stress can all impact ability to perform, and can often be overcome with the right support.

Whatever the issue, if you have any concerns about an employee it is essential that you address them immediately. Either they’re a keeper, in which case you will want to help them get back on track as soon as possible, or they are not suited to your organisation and the sooner you can remove them the better.

Some CEOs delay firing because of the fear of costly legal action. In such cases, you need to compare the cost of delaying versus the cost to the business. Perhaps leaving the individual in place could have worse financial implications than firing, or would demotivate the rest of the team.

However, this does not give you licence to fire people in an unpleasant or insensitive way as this will only create an enemy in the market for you and your company – not to mention all the legal implications.

So what is the secret to hiring success? My personal rules of thumb are very simple. Surround yourself with people that are better than you. And make sure that they are the kind of people you would enjoy going to dinner with.

You need people that will keep you on your toes but also people that make you want to go to work in the morning. A strong, motivated team is worth more than anything to your business in today’s climate, so hire, nurture and retain the quality, even if that means losing some of the quantity.

Think back to the bosses you’ve had throughout your career. If you’re unlucky there will be some that make your skin crawl or your hackles rise just to think about them, but you may also have been lucky enough to have had some that inspired and encouraged you, and that you are still in touch with and even ask for advice on occasion.

What makes the difference between a good and a bad leader is often less obvious than you might think.

A boss who is blunt, bad-tempered and can’t remember anyone’s name may in the long-term prove the better leader than the boss that is caring, sharing and never has a bad word to say about anyone.

It’s not the way they behave or even the actions they take that marks out the successful leader – it’s the impression they leave on their team and how that influences their team’s behaviour and actions.

Of course different types of people are best motivated by different things and different leadership styles.

I’m sure you are familiar with the numerous personality ‘types’ propounded by psychologists the world over, but whether you call them pragmatists or ‘red’ people, theorists or ‘blue’ personalities, what it pays to remember is that one person’s motivator will be another’s total turn-off.

Take money, for example. A classic leadership mistake is to assume that everyone has a price and that if you have enough hard cash to throw at a person, you can keep them happy. After all, that’s why people change job, right?

Wrong. Money is often the easiest way to avoid discussing what’s really making someone unhappy – that their work-life balance is completely one-sided or that they have bitten off more than they can chew and are worried they don’t have enough support to do the job well.

Of course for some people money is indeed the be-all and end-all, but for many a far bigger motivator is an opportunity to develop new skills or even just have a peaceful and enjoyable life. Flash the cash at these people and what they may see is more responsibility, longer hours and more of what was upsetting them in the first place.

It therefore pays to take time to get to know your team, individually and collectively, so that you can create the right package of motivations to keep them behind you all the way. Providing praise and rewards for continued performance and positive attitude work wonderfully.

Don’t think that just by putting on a few free pizzas at lunchtime or having the boss take ice cream orders on a scorching day, will mean that the team owes you a lifetime of gratitude, but genuinely thoughtful initiatives like this that don’t cost much will usually be accepted in the spirit in which they’re offered – with real enthusiasm.

Back regular, spontaneous and interesting gestures up with a solid and competitive benefits and HR package and you have the basis for a happy company. In particular by showing your own personal, positive leadership and joining the team in having a genuine good time every day, employees will find contentment and stay motivated.

Strong leaders are those that inspire their team to work harder and do better because they can see their own success reflected in that of the business. They lead by example and they use their personality to motivate others. It therefore takes great confidence – in yourself, and in your business – to be this kind of a leader, but never get complacent.

You should always try to look at yourself from your employees’ perspective and think – “would I like me for a boss?”

In businesses, the most valuable asset is human capital. Happy workers are better workers, and better workers mean a more successful and profitable business.

It is therefore essential that you determine from the beginning how you want the business to be perceived by its most critical market – the employees.

Whether you’re the founder or a hired gun, whether you have 2 employees or 200, if you as the MD/CEO/owner/boss aren’t clear on what you want your company to look and feel like, then you can bet that the rest of the organisation will feel similarly rudderless. This is because a business’s culture flows from the top down.

For example, the culture at Virgin Atlantic is markedly different to that at British Airways because every employee embodies the culture cascading from the founder Sir Richard Branson.

For a consumer-facing organisation like the airline industry, the happy faces of the cabin crew convey a mood of wellbeing to their passengers which enhances the customer experience, encouraging repeat purchases.

This is part of the organisation’s DNA, and without such a figurehead would have been harder to achieve.

Programmes of change, training and coaching can help communicate and promulgate a desired culture, but they cannot create it. If it’s your business, you have a responsibility to be that creator, because if you don’t you will find that your employees do it for themselves.

This means you may end up working for a company that you don’t recognise – or possibly don’t even like. It is easy to spot the ‘cultureless’ company almost as soon as you meet it. Telltale signs include a high staff turnover, planning that fails to deliver results, mixed brand messages and dissatisfied customers.

This shouldn’t make you afraid of involving your team in defining your culture though, because empowering your employees to give their best, as well as forgiving their mistakes, is crucial if you’re going to develop a unified team.

Think about and share your values and ideals with them. It’s not about mission statements but it is about personality, and as the boss you need to build the company largely in your own image. Are you friendly, open and empowering or perhaps serious, respectable and clever?

Whatever suits you and your industry, it has to be believable, so don’t try to be something you are clearly not. Culture is about intangibles and if what you want to be clashes too obviously with what you are, it won’t feel right for your employees or your customers and it’s disingenuous.

For some people being an engaging, charismatic and energetic leader that embodies the culture and style of their business comes naturally. They ‘walk the talk’ and the rest of the world follows.

For others it is something they have to work at, but it is worth the effort. Ask yourself why you started the company or took the job in the first place, or what sort of company you want to work for, and build it from there.

If you can create a company you like, chances are everyone else will like it too.