What Sets Successful CEOs Apart

by | Apr 30, 2020 | Leadership

A man in a gray suit and red tie, wearing glasses, sits at a wooden desk with a laptop in front of him. He appears thoughtful, resting his chin on his hand. The logo and name "Global Investment Strategies" are visible on the glass window beside him—an image reminiscent of successful CEOs.

As one steadily climbs the ladder, gradually responsibilities escalate, demands become intense, and stakes elevate. As it is a position of extreme duties that require extraordinary skills, it is prevalent that several CEOs don’t have that particular skill set, which is crucial for the job. 

A study has been conducted where an in-depth inspection of 17,000 executives was carried out. It revealed a massive disparity between the directors’ opinion about an ideal CEO and the reality that certainly carries one to an outstanding level of performance. 

There are various assumptions regarding whether any assessments about their degrees and educational qualifications are carried out. But, analysis claim that during the interview, however impressive the extrovert employees might be towards the board, the introverts are also surprisingly capable of surpassing expectations of the investors and board members. Surprisingly, it has been observed that most of the CEO candidates had committed to material mistakes in the initial phases. In contrast, 45% had severely blown up their job, and still, more than 78% of these candidates finally bagged the leading role. While researching the educational pedigree, it has been revealed that only about 8% of the best CEOs didn’t study for graduation at all.

There is very little connection noticed between the time of selection and when the candidate secures the position. For instance, a high level of confidence enables one to get selected, but it provides little to no additional advantage while executing the role. 

The Four Behaviors that Set the Successful CEOs Apart 

  1. Speedy and Convicted Decisions: The highest-performing CEOs stand distinct for making quick decisions even through ambiguous and difficult situations. It might not be great opinions all the time, but good CEOs realize that taking no choice is better than deciding faster with more significant convictions. Executives with higher IQs and intellectual complexities are likely to make smarter decisions, but their slow decisive nature often makes their team grow frustrated. Research reveals that among the CEOs who are expelled for their decision-making ability, only one-third of them have been found to take wrong calls; the rest of them have been ousted for simple being indecisive. 
  2. Active Engagement: Great CEOs maintain a strong balancing performance between the deep insight of stakeholders’ needs and the delivery of business impacts. Acquiring an astute knowledge of the requirements, they motivate and allocate different roles to different employees to achieve the goal. Each of their body language sets an impact on the employees. To efficiently manage clashing viewpoints help to make a path to an active CEO.
  3. Proactive Adaptation:  Analysis claims that CEOs surpassing adaptation are 6.7 times more likely to accomplish. CEOs who make the most strategic moves look through various data sources and find relevant inputs that may seem irrelevant initially. Highly adaptable CEOs also treat the shortcomings and setbacks as an integral lesson, rather than seeing them as downfalls.
  4. Reliable Delivery: One of the essential behaviors is effective and safe delivery. Accurately analyzing the time and energy required for the project, efficient CEOs provide an exact delivery time instead of repeated assumptions. CEOs having high potency of organizational and planning skills are more likely to deliver reliable outcomes.