Last week, I attended a presentation called “the DNA of a CEO”, presented by 3 members of the executive recruiting firm, Russell Reynolds. I thought their observations were quite interesting. They said that, through the firm’s experience, they identified a few characteristics and career experiences of successful CEOs.
- Characteristics of successful CEOs (has nothing to do with stylistic differences between CEOs)
- Driven
- Balance strategic and tactical
- Credible (always do what they say they will do)
- Leader of people
- Execution and performance bias
- Pragmatic and realistic
- Progress in well-managed organizations with high caliber people (learn from the best)
- Develop functional depth and cross-functional breadth at various points
- Think and act like a general manager, regardless of the role (don’t just think about their own role’s perspective, e.g. finance, marketing, but about the holistic view of the business and what it needs to succeed)
- Stay close to and know the customer (both internal and external)
- Embrace international experiences and exhibit empathy (RR’s clients see this as rapidly increasing in importance)
- Live through successes and failures, learn through both (many have a disastrous failure at some point in their careers, which shape them as leaders, “a crucible of leadership”)
- Passed the “good person” test over time (on average, but can get really tough when needed)
Read the full article: The DNA of a CEO