10 Attributes of Great CEO's

Becoming a CEO requires a personality trait that is multi-faceted. It involves a wide range of job duties with the aim of helping the organization reach its goals. An effective CEO gets people to think, believe, see, and do what others might not have done on their own. It means possessing the vision, setting the right goals, and then setting out to achieve those objectives. It means being aware of the fears and anxieties felt by those working at the company and then promoting a culture that helps overcome those fears. As the highest ranking executive officer of a company, the CEO sets a strategy and then directs the future direction of the company. It is one of the most challenging, most rewarding, and ultimate goals in business and one’s career. 

         There are 10 attributes that great CEO's acquire as they help grow their companies

Creativity

CEO’s must be creative and willing to pass on that creativity. Creativity is elixir of any organization that wants to exist long term. It helps the company to emerge stronger and stronger with each new innovation. As management guru Peter Drucker said, “The only source of sustained competitive advantage is the ability to learn faster than your competitors. CEO’s have to revolutionize themselves every few years just to stay relevant. They have to be willing to learn about new and emerging technologies. CEO’s need to make sure their people are constantly pushing the envelope because it takes time to move to a new process or product into the marketplace. Furthermore, the ability to welcome creativity should be at all levels of the company and not just from the person at the top. The CEO must instill creativity in the culture’s DNA. Creativity doesn’t reside in one person or even a few people, it must be planted throughout the entire company, or else it won’t bloom anywhere. 

Steve Jobs was once worried that his company wasn’t being innovative enough. He once asked the question “How in the world do you figure out what the next big thing is?” He was told that he must be willing to adapt and be aware of everything that’s going on. “Well that’s what I’m doing”, he responded. “Everyone expects me to come up with all of the ideas” Steve Jobs took lesson from this encounter and began to instill more creativity into his organization so that innovation could come from the brilliance of all people at Apple and not just himself.

Creativity is about communication, focus, taking calculated risks, being aware of what’s going on around you, and understanding what your competitors are doing. Many successful companies go out of business because they were not able to change with the times. CEO’s must be prepared to create companies that are ready to re-invent itself every few years. CEO’s that don’t embrace creativity blame the market when times are tough and when times are good, they allocate the success and smartness to their own moves.

Understanding the cultural and strategic differences of competitors, customers, peers, and partners are critical to victory. CEO’s don’t worry about all the current distractions happening around them, they have already played out the entire encounter in their minds and with all of the potential possible moves. They are thinking three steps ahead. This type of mindset makes the CEO’s agile. They are able to change their approach according to different circumstances.

Hard Work

Despite the increasingly recent and competitive business environment, the DNA of the modern CEO still contain many traits of great CEO’s from the past. They have a willingness to work extremely hard, possesses a great vision and is able to articulate the mission of the company, both in action and words. Humans possesses enormous amounts of energy but great CEO’s know how to harness that energy. There are limits of course, but great CEO’s know that we gain energy by using energy. They know that one of the best methods for mental energy is physical activity. Whether it be walking, running, or performing thirty minutes of aerobic exercise daily, they understand that physical activity can enhance their desired goals. As Frederich S Fritz said, “I don’t want to be saved, I want to be spent”. In other words, the same thing is true of human energy: it comes into existence through use. You can't hoard it. While the rest of us skip cardio, leave the letters unanswered, emails unchecked, books unopened, great CEO’s wake up early in the morning to mentally prepare for the day. 

Strong Communication Skills

CEO’s constantly work towards improving their communication skills. They try to make the communication less about themselves and more about the people they are working with. They take constructive criticism and feedback as a means of improving themselves. When CEO’s try to communicate a complex message, they are able to break the message down into different parts so everyone can understand the message. Often times in an organization, people try to argue different positions. This requires the CEO to listen attentively and to take the various positions and find good in each person’s viewpoint. Second, they are able to simplify the conversation so that everyone feels they have made a valid point. And third, they are able to articulate in great detail, the end result and why people should care. 

Listening

A powerful step that CEO’s take to improve their impact is to listen to both customers and employees. Listening helps leaders expand their understanding and allows them to make a positive impact on culture. Great CEO’s genuinely listen to their customers. As John Chambers of Cisco would routinely listen to customers to understand market transition and to learn about the next big product. Rather than dismissing his customers point of views, he would carefully listen and start building that specific product that mattered to them most.

Positive Attitude

Tom Peters, the author of In Search of Excellence, speaks of America’s most successful companies. He has shown that top CEO’s have a positive attitude and uses praise as an effective method to create positive feedback. They maintain a positive outlook on life and aspire daily to become better. It is through an inventory of life experiences that great CEO’s are molded to lead their particular circumstance. Peters cites one study’s findings that very successful people had ‘an obnoxiously high level of praise piled on them in childhood – praise to the point of embarrassment. It goes to show that you can hardly overdo ‘praise’ Telling people what they are doing wrong while ignoring what they are doing right reduces their energy. When effective CEO’s needs to correct or uplift employees, they provide counsel in the following ways, “Here’s what I like about what you are doing, and here’s how you might improve it.” They don’t pick faults and focus all of the energy on the employees mistakes. People have a remarkable ability to improve with positive feedback. The CEO’s job should be to motivate and appraise the efforts of the individuals when their contributions are making the team stronger and to mentor when teams are becoming isolated and less productive.

Networking

Great CEO’s have a great ability to network outside there sphere of influence. Networking helps leaders remain informed, seek new opportunities and to attract new talent. It teaches new skills and allows innovation to occur. When it comes to stepping up to leadership, the network is one of the most important tools for identifying new strategic opportunities and attracting the best people. It protects CEO’s from being careless about shifts in market transitions. Great networks help people remain informed when there is a change in the industry. It provides a bird eyes perspective on the industry. Without a good network, the strategy of the company can be severely limited. 

There are three types of networks. Personal networks are networks that involve family and friends. These networks are typical on Facebook. Personal networks doesn't have to be made on social media. While it is important to have a great personal network, these networks doesn't typically lead to growth initiatives. Operational networks involve employees and people at the company level. These networks are discovered at the place of employment. While operational networks are important to help gain experience and exposure, it does not allow for a bird's eye perspective. While each has its benefits, great CEO’s use strategic networks.

Strategic networks are the networks of great CEO’s. They network with people that are outside their personal and operational networks. It allows CEO’s to know that change is coming and how to best prepare. They are given a birds eye view of their industry and helps them prepare for new opportunities 

Willingness to take Calculated Risks

Great CEO’s know that taking calculated risks is even more important in the modern business world. Every company whether small or large is faced with disruption. The pace and scale of disruption are increasing. As a result, CEO’s are always looking for new industry innovators, shifts in customer behavior. They scan the market by educating themselves on emerging trends. The worst mistake is to do the right thing for too long, there should be a willingness to innovate and to take calculated risks. The time to pivot is when the business is still healthy and you have earned your customers trust. While that may sound uncomfortable to pivot when everything is steady and the market feels comfortable; the real danger is not trying new technologies and not embracing the philosophy of constant change. 

Effective CEO”s are known for embracing innovation, promoting change and instilling a sense of creativity in the companies culture.When great CEO's embrace change and innovation, they create a work environment that can become a magnet for talent. One way Great CEO’s allows for calculated risks is to seek diversity within the company. When they only seek like-minded people, it reinforces existing points of view. Great CEO’s anticipate failure in their decision making process. They know that mistakes will be made and that important lessons can be derived from failures. Therefore, when they take calculated risks, and failure becomes the result, they get up, dust themselves, and move on and try again.

Encourages Culture Diversity

Diversity can be either part of an organizations success or its downfall. Great CEO’s engage, interact and promote diversity. They connect with employees to create better work conditions and more satisfied employees. They take the time to listen to employees struggles and make them feel as if they are part of the decision-making process. They help empower employees to have long term vision and offer solutions for growth. When this happens, employees work harder and set a high bar for themselves because they feel that their contributions and their points of views are being valued. Great CEO’s provide a stimulating work environment that allows different employees to work in teams where skills are evenly complimented. CEO’s know that employees have both weaknesses and strength; by pairing employees from the different spectrum skills with other employees, they understand that employees can learn from their differences; helping to increasing efficiency and output. CEO’s know that employees should feel comfortable in working in teams with other employees that may not necessarily share their views but the overall synergy will allow them to learn from each other. It also means regularly taking the temperature of the various talents and making adjustments to ensure the team is operating efficiently. Great CEOS’ regularly engage and set realistic goals that will both challenge and allow employees to shine. Engaging in employee diversity and productivity not only boosts involvement but also captures innovative ideas that only a diverse workforce can bring to fruition.

Empathy and Compassion

Great CEO’s show compassion and empathy and are accessible when needed. Accessibility involves being available and willing to lend a helping hand. When a CEO fails to help, it occurs because the CEO did not make themselves accessible. They could have been out of the office, over committed to other work or simply because they chose to not make themselves accessible. “People won’t remember what you say, but they’ll remember how you made them feel.” A great CEO goes out of their way to help people and make themselves accessible. This type of individual creates a winning culture. When a CEO makes themselves accessible, it might not be apparent right away of the long term positive impact, but in the long term, it will rub off on the culture of the company.  Employees will begin to make themselves accessible. Each team member will bring their own unique approach, therefore, the more people in an organization that makes themselves accessible, the more knowledge and output they can share with the rest of the team. Pointing out and showcasing various abilities in a team allows individuals to receive recognition. It allows for ideas to be exchanged, new insights to be developed and allows for more frequent communication. Great CEO's elect to suffer alongside the rank and file of their employees. When employees are struggling, CEO’s should feel empathy and try to remove the barriers that is preventing employees from reaching their potential. When the CEO along with team members make themselves accessible, it allows the entire company to achieve goals. It strongly re-enforces the message of exhorting people to help their fellow team members. An organization that practices accessibility can become a cornerstone for a very vibrant organization. It can gain a competitive edge in a global marketplace where lack of inner communication, dis-honesty, and lack of trust can slowly become the norm. As a result, making oneself accessible, is an extension of showing empathy and compassion. 

Creates a Winning Culture with Trust

Great CEO’s create a winning culture by allowing everyone to share common goals and constantly strive towards the company’s mission statement of achieving goals rather than performing activities. Creating a wining culture isn’t easy. Instilling company core values takes communication and the ability to lead by example. Such values should be etched into the firm’s DNA that without such guiding principles, the company can fail. Great CEO’s produce greater efficiency by expecting contributions from team members such as competence, trust, and accessibility. History has shown that it takes a special kind of leader with unique competencies and skills to successfully build great organizations and teams. Building such a culture of competence needs to be present in both the leadership level as well as the team level. It means knowing how each person thinks and how to best utilize their capabilities correctly at all times. It is the capacity to know that every wrong move can cost the firm thousands or millions of dollars. Great CEO’s evaluate themselves both individually and while they collaborate to ensure that competence is held at a high level within the company culture. CEO’s with competence have shown that they are able to solve complex problems. Those with less competence have less trust and ranked lower and can become attributed as a non-helper compared to those with higher levels of competence.

Great CEO that are trustworthy. Trust is an attribute of both competence and character, it is hard achieve and easy to destroy. It requires measurable steps to keep it strengthened. Once destroyed, it can wreak havoc on both the bottom line and the company culture. Having trust allows the CEO to scale up and to have others reach out to him or her in the time of need.

The path to becoming a great CEO is a lifelong pursuit. To master such a skill, you must endure many hardships and be committed to lifelong learning. Great CEO’s do not have finish lines, they are constantly working to better themselves and their companies. In conclusion, great CEO's are made through perseverance, determination, and a greater sense of purpose. As John Chambers said, “I’ve spend my whole life immersed in technology, but gadgets, code, and devices don’t interest me, my focus was on how we could help customers grow their business and leverage technologies to improve the lives of human beings and the conditions on the planet” In the end, the CEO’s job should be to help all stakeholders achieve a great experience. They do this by installing a culture in their workplace that maximizes physiological safety, ensures trust, and builds teams that will take the company far further than they could have done one their own.

Works Cited

Bushnell, N. (2013). Finding the Next Steve Jobs.USA: NetMinds.

Chambers, J. (2018). Connecting the Dots.New York: Hatchette Books.

Hernbroth, R. J. (n.d.). Personal Power & Leadership. USA.

Ibarra, H. (2015). Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader.Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.

Leonard, G. (1992). Mastery.Toronto: Penguin Books.

Robert K Cooper, A. S. (1996). Executive IQ Emotional Intelligence in Leaderships & Organizations.New York: Penguin Putman.