When you unpack the role of the chief executive officer (CEO), it comes down to five principal responsibilities. Yet, as the high turnover rate for corporate chiefs suggests, the role is far from straightforward. Part of the problem may be the vanity factor – that is, who the CEO sees when they look in the mirror – according to Steve Kaufman, PricewaterhouseCoopers research fellow at the Australian School of Business and a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School. In an interview for Knowledge@Australian School of Business, he tells Julian Lorkin how CEOs and their bosses on the board can take a reality check.