Absolute Power

Answers to "Willow" clues can be paired with answers to "Dark Willow" clues. The latter is phonetically identical to the former except for one missing fragment. In each case, the fragment is the homophone of a letter. In "Dark Willow" clue order, the answers are:

Missing letters are removed in a particular pattern in this list order: beginning of the word, interior of the word, end of the word, beginning of the word, etc. Dividing the letter string into first letters, interior letters, and last letters gives the sequences AROLBARTZ, MUHTARKNT, and STEVELUCZ. These are themselves missing a letter at the beginning, interior, and end of the sequence respectively. Restoring these letters gives three powerful people (Carol Bartz, Muhtar KEnt, and Steve LuczO) as well as their title, and the puzzle's answer, CEO.