Building of a Smart CEO

Leadership ; change; adjustments; innovation; risks; challenges and encouraging. These are a few words that arise when describing a CEO. Knowing there is no certain blueprint to follow in order to attain this prestigious title, the CEO is one of the most coveted, and least understood, jobs in a company. By its very nature, the job description of a CEO means meeting the needs of employees, customers, investors, communities, and the law. The CEO works to make a transformation succeed by communicating its significance, modeling the desired changes, building a strong top team, and getting involved. Having a degree from a B- school and an exceptional knowledge of the industry in which the company operates does not guarantee that a person will make it to the top of the corporate ladder. Personality traits may also play a role in an individual's ability to attain chief executive status. Typically, CEOs are good communicators, deal makers and managers. They are cohesive visionaries and strategists and are enthusiastic and outgoing about their organization. A chief executive's job is to provide vision and a course for the company to navigate, which is difficult to do without extensive experience and a working knowledge of the potential risks and opportunities that lie ahead for the company. They understand the importance of people coordination, spirit of teamwork and rewarding and motivating the employees resulting in leaderships amongst them.

It’s often said that a branch manager is best position for growing to a CEO’s role. That’s because howsoever strong a professional is at a particular area, broad command on all aspects of business, like Finance, HR, Marketing, Sales, Operations etc, is very necessary to be able to drive a system to grow while ensuring sync between the interdependent factors. The CEO is the leader in command of a business and works towards his vision. The orbit and flight of his vision decides where the organization is headed towards. The same is drawn from his years of experience in business, and his versatility to be able to drive things to a successful fruition. A leader is not born but is made to be one. Becoming a chief executive typically takes years of hard work. Extensive experience in the company's field is desirable and some companies tend to prefer those with degrees from upper-tier schools.

Having vision isn’t enough—that just takes a handful of mushrooms and a vision quest. Communicating the vision is the key. No leadership is sustainable without apt & involved communication with the target audience segment. Communiqués, open-house discussions, internal marketing, etc. are some of the effective ways that a CEO candidate leverages to ensure that his team is motivated and in sync with the vision and objectives of the top management. If an organization doesn’t innovate, it’s just dead! An ideal CEO would infuse constant innovation as the soul of day to day working of his people. Howsoever small or substantial, he will help build a market ready brand by enabling this.

The CEO’s behavior will make or break the company! He builds the culture of the organization which encourages openness, great values, and high spirited morales towards the organization.

Being a CEO is a big job and only gets bigger. Focusing on developing skills in these key areas can prepare one well to be a Chief Executive Officer.