Throughout the world there are some incredibly inspirational CEOs who are heading up some of the world’s most powerful global companies. Some of these leaders are to the manor born, others like Gary G Friedman have had to do it all on their own though their natural ability, hard work and ultimately, their instincts. Whilst many of the world’s most important CEOs do come from wildly varied backgrounds, they do all possess a very similar skill set which has gotten them to where they are now. If you ask a class of students what is the profession that they would like to have the most, I’m sure at least 50% would tell you that a Chief Executive Officer was at the top of their list. If you fall into this category, here are the skills which the world’s CEOs possess, and which you will need in order to land the position.
Results Driven
To scale the dizzying heights of getting to the top of a company, you must have an in built desire to consistently deliver strong results, time and time again. With this drive comes all of the attributes that a CEO requires which is wining at all costs and not accepting failure.
Bouncing Back
Ask any CEO in the world and they will be able to perfectly recount to you the times that they have failed, the poor decisions that they have made and the spectacular errors which they were responsible for. The point of this however is not that they failed, but that they had the passion and commitment to dust themselves off, learn from their mistake and go again. If you have dreams of one day occupying a position such as CEO, you must be able to accept failure as a lesson and move on.
Interpersonal Skills
No CEO gets to where they are through having a terrible attitude and allowing power to go to their head, on the contrary in fact. Those who reach the position of Chief Exec will have need to have support in order to do so, in order to gain such support they would have to shows strong interpersonal skills and be able to create and manage relationships. If you think about being results driven, the only way in which you could getyforu team to deliver those results, is if you are likable and personable with them.
Pure Focus
This who reach this coveted position have done so because they focussed on nothing else, all of their time, their drive, their passion and their thoughts were committed to reaching the very top of the ladder. If you want to even entertain the idea of one day climbing the industry ladder and becoming a CEO of any company, you will also need to have this clear and precise focus, and not let anything take your eye off the prize.
So do you think that you have what it takes to one day become a CEO?
