CEO Experts

For a CEO to be successful he needs to have core competencies to deal with any type of situations in the organization. He has to be on his toes all the time and he needs to see that all the goals of the organization are met on time. Let us have a look some of core values that a CEO needs to have to succeed in an organization. Not all CEO’s can survive in an organization and this is because and this is because they are lacking in one or more of the core competencies. He needs to be a master of all the core competencies mentioned below to succeed in his role of being the most important salaried person in the organization.

First of all the CEO needs to have a clear vision and how he is going to achieve his goals. The CEO develops and inspires sense of purpose with his executive team. He needs to constantly motivate them to achieve nothing but the best for their organization.

The CEO is also the main person who is responsible for creating a working culture in the organization. The values that he develops in the organization will go a long way in achieving the organization’s goals and strategies. The values in the organization refer to the acceptable behavior that is required form each and every employee in the organization.

Once the goals are drafted, the CEO needs to have a strategic thinking plan in place. The CEO should be able to see ahead clearly and anticipate the consequences and trends that may occur in the future. He should have a perspective and broad knowledge of any risks or eventualities that can happen in the future and be ready to tackle them head on.

The CEO needs to be an exceptional communicator. He should get his point across clearly to his subordinates and the other employees whenever the need be. He needs to align people in the right direction by giving them clear instructions and establishing a clear communication channel across all levels in the organization. The CEO needs to communicate well not only inside the organization but outside the organization as well with suppliers, customers and directors of other organizations.

Another core competency expected from the CEO is to build an effective team and promote collective work. The employees should be made to realize that working collectively for the organization will get the best results. Any arguments or discrepancies between the employees should be solved as soon as possible. The departments and their individuals should work in collaboration with each other. The CEO should provide them with development opportunities so that they can advance their career within the organization.

The CEO needs to know how to optimize the various resources of the organization. Here managing the human resource is the most important factor as it is human resource that takes care of other resources. Apart from optimizing the application of resource an able CEO will also discourage any type of wastage in the organization.

Business acumen is what today CEOs need is. They should have thorough knowledge about the trends and practices of the industry. The CEO should have a firm understanding of the market and the competitors. He should be well versed with their strength and weaknesses. Similarly he should make the most of the strengths of the organization and find a solution for its weaknesses. He should strive to continuously learn. He should have an open mind about his successes and failures. He should be well versed with the use of computer systems since this is the age of computers. He should sift through vast amounts of information related to his business and the market.

The other core competency expected from a CEO includes the ability to handle any type of emergency/risks and also be flexible. He should have an open mind that things are not going to be perfect always and he should adjust and be compatible according to the changing scenario. He should be able to perform even in the most dynamic environments with equal ease and speed.

Customer focus is another significant factor to be considered by CEOs. They should be well aware of the customers’ needs and preferences and all his aims should be directed towards satisfying the customers. The CEO should also anticipate the future needs of the customers and work towards developing products and services even before the customers begin to realize the need. The company can make excellent profits if the CEO can think in this direction.

Maintaining a sound financial position in the company is one of core aspects of the CEO. Though much of this aspect is for the CFO, the CEO should be well aware of the financial position of the company by working in close collaboration with the CFO. This is because he needs to make budgets for the various departments in the organization and he also needs to allocate them proportionately. The ley leverage points that he should be aware of are the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet, liquidity, investments, long term profits and the short term cash flow of the company.

The CEO should make optimum use of the current best practices. He should not blindly jump on the fads but he should capitalize on various factors such as outsourcing, technology, social networks and work force. He should be able to identify the exact resources that solve the purposed without much wastage. The best CEOs have always been able to bring the right people at the right time to do the right thing.

The CEO naturally has to be a leader, able to lead from the front. He should follow a leadership style that is best for his organization and employees. He should motivate his employees continuously by understanding their needs and fulfilling them as long as they are within the preview of the organization. He should think well for the employees and help them to advance in their career. He should be a good listener and he should solve the complaints and friction issues between the employees as soon as possible.

The CEO understands that the employees are the most important assets of the organization and hence it is best to optimize the performance of the employees by providing feedback, training and thinking about the employees’ strengths and weaknesses.

Finding the right CEO can literally be matter of life and death for any organization. This is because he is the most important employee in the organization, responsible for carrying out the mission and goals of the organization. Selection of a CEO is a very important decision for the board and hence it should take the most comprehensive approach to ensure that they have made the right choice. Finding the CEO normally involves 3 steps which are steps before the interview, steps in the interview and steps after selecting the CEO. Let us have a look at each of these steps in detail.

Before the interview

First of all, the company has to decide whether it really needs a CEO or not. If the company is small then it might not appoint a CEO at all and the Directors will interact with the managers. However in big companies where there is the board of directors, a CEO needs to be appointed for the day to day operations of the business. He needs to be the man in charge who will direct the various heads of the departments in the organization.

Once the company decides to appoint a CEO then the next step is to find sources from where they can pull up the candidates for interviews. Many companies try to find a candidate from within the organization. This can prove to be beneficial as the candidate knows the company in and out along with its day to day operations. The company can also save costs that it could have spent on putting advertisements or appointing a recruitment firm. In case the company decided to appoint a CEO from outside then it will start advertising for the same through sources such as its website and newspaper. It may also appoint a professional recruitment agency for the same.

Appointing a CEO does not take place in a jiffy. It is a multi level procedure where the candidates who meet the eligibility criteria (as laid down by the company) have to first submit their resumes. The team of experts then goes through the resumes and then shortlists the candidates for their first interview. Once the shortlisting procedure is over, the candidates will be notified their email or telephone and they will have to reply whether they will be coming for the interview or not.

The company also sends a list of things to bring in the interview such as resume with photo, past work experience certificates, education certificates and any kind of presentation that they may have to make. Normally the candidates who pass the first round of interviews are instructed to make a presentation based on a case study.

The company can then start conducting the first round interviews. Here the board of directors is not necessary for short listing the candidates for the subsequent round. Along with the interview an organization will conduct reference checks as well as psychometric tests. A reference check will establish some facts about the candidate and the tests will test his skills at handling different types of situations and handling pressures.

Since it is the question of employing the most powerful and high positioned employee, the organization should leave no stone unturned in selecting the right CEO. It may have to incur costs for tests, interviews, etc but in the end it will be worth it for the company.

In the interview, the most common questions asked to the candidate is about his past working experience, the challenges that he has faced and how he has solved them, his personal temperament, his soft skills, human interaction skills and how quickly he can adapt to the changing scenario. He may also be given a real life case study so that the solution that he devises can be checked by the interviewers. He may also be asked about his main career achievements as well as his strengths and weaknesses.

The shortlisted candidates of the first round interview are called for the second round interview. Some organizations may also have 3 to 4 levels of interviews with the last 2 interviews conducted by the Board of Directors. This way the number of candidates go on decreasing till the company selects its new CEO.

After the Interview

Once the new CEO is appointed, he needs to be briefed about the most important priorities in the organization which he needs to fulfill as soon as he joins. The organization has to give him an appointment letter which states important figures such as the salary, perquisites, etc. When he joins office he should be introduced to all his subordinates with whom he is going to interact. The selection committee should be active for at least 6 months to see how the CEO is doing and then a performance appraisal report should be presented to him at the end of 6 months.

CEO transition also refers to as CEO succession that takes place in the organization. It refers to the process of making some significant changes in the CEOs over a period of time. Changing the CEO of the company from one place to another may impact the day to day operations and also the culture of the company. This could off course be for a temporary time but the disruption that takes place can impact the performance of the company in a negative or positive way. Hence a lot of thought should go in the decision of making a CEO transition.

The bigger companies can manage the CEO transition with a well set process which is specially defined for the transition of the CEOs. The failure or success of this exercise is highly influenced by the obvious and non obvious factors which could be of social nature. Hence the organization will have to determine in advance how these factors will be managed.

The organization normally makes the CEO transition for several reasons. It could be that the broad mission of the company is going to change with a new set of strategies and challenges. The transition should be well managed so that the risks associated with the CEO transition can be minimized. The whole CEO transition process should be fair and well executed. The organization should remember that CEO transition process may constitute a significant business risk and hence all efforts should be undertaken to minimize the risks as far as possible.

The Board of Director should take into consideration that every organization is different and hence the transition should take place in such a way that it is going to be beneficial for the company in the long run. Effective CEO transitions are customized to meet the structure, priorities and culture of the organization. The process of CEO transition should be done as smoothly as possible and it should affect the organization as little as possible. Many companies are highly disciplined in this matter. They are extremely structured and tightly controlled. They ensure that the CEO transition process is in harmony with the daily rhythm of the organization.

The CEO transition could turn out to be a bumpy ride or it can be a smooth and productive process. The transition procedure could be simple as it could be complicated and this depends on a number of factors that the organization should take into consideration. The transition could be a delicate operation when the outgoing CEO is leaving an indelible imprint on the organization. However such transitions should not leave a negative feeling in the employees of the organization. If the transition is not handled properly then the organization can suffer and the new CEO will have a number of obstacles in his path.

Hence facilitating the CEO transition requires a high level of expertise as this is the highest position held by an employee in the organization. Let us have a look at some of the points that an organization should consider in case of CEO transition.

The transition should be tailor designed according to the principles, structure and culture of the organization. This is because all organizations are different from each other. Hence the same approach of one organization might not work in the other organization. Secondly, employees at all levels have to be prepared in advance for the transition. The organization can prepare a guide or outline for the group of employees who will be related to the transition procedure.

There should be proper coaching and rehearsals for the outgoing and incoming executives of the organization. This is because the behaviors of these executives could be highly positive or negative. The organization can also set up a series of orientation sessions with the present executives and the new exec. Many organizations devise a briefing book after careful planning and editing to ensure that that book is useful. The content of this book should be uniform and readable so that everyone who is required to read it can understand it.

The organization will have to design a series of orientation sessions to make the CEO transition as smooth as possible. If the orientation sessions are planner properly then they can become an efficient means of sharing the information and breaking the ice with one another. The incoming executive should be given focus areas for his interviews. These areas may include current issues as well as biographies.

The organization should be working with the new executive and develop a plan of between 60 and 90 days so that he knows what to expect. This plan should address the format, participants, media and locations. The incoming CEO should also be briefed about the history of the organization. The organization can also push the incoming executive to draft the proposed action plan which he can submit to the board within 3 to 6 months. This will depend on the organization’s size and operations complexity.

An interim CEO is a person who is appointed in a temporary capacity by the Board of Directors. The interim CEO needs to assume the role during a transition in time. This could happen due to circumstances such as sudden resignation of the CEO or illness of the current CEO that will last for a relatively long time such as two months. The interim CEO is not officially given the title of the full time CEO. This is because he needs to fill up the position till the current CEO returns back or a new, full time CEO is appointed by the company. The interim CEO is also called the “steady in ship” as he assists in a time of great turmoil.

Normally a company will appoint an interim CEO from within the organization as that person is well aware of the working of the company. This process does not take much time as the company knows him from before. Selecting an interim CEO from outside the company will take too much time. An employee from within the company is well aware of the day to day operations of business.

When the regular CEO will not be able to attend to his services for a month or so then the Board of Directors feel the pressure and to relive this pressure they appoint an interim CEO. The interim CEO may or may not be considered for a permanent position depending on the position of the company and the performance of the interim CEO. However this point should be made clear to the interim CEO at the time of appointment.

In case of choosing the interim CEO from outside the organization, then the appointment could be from several sources such as recruiters, open advertising or a contact of an employee in the organization. There has to be a special selection group in place consisting of the Board of the Directors and the immediate managers who will be working under the interim CEO. The group of managers can conduct the initial interviews and then shortlist the candidates to be again interviewed by the Board of Directors. There could be 3-4 to interviews till the interim CEO is finally selected. The selection process could be difficult or time consuming, especially when the interim CEO had to be selected from outside the organization.

The interim CEO should have more or less the same abilities as that of a regular CEO. In case, he is selected from outside then he should be a fast learner. He should quickly learn how the organization works and then assume the role seamlessly without any hassles. He should quickly team up with his subordinates and learn the day to day operations of the organization quickly. He should get well versed with the many challenges that lie ahead in area of marketing, finance, operations and human resources. In short, he should quickly get in the boots of the regular CEO and begin handling the operations right from the time he is appointed.

We normally observe that even the most established organizations can find themselves in a position where they will need an interim CEO. The immediate function of the interim CEO is to manage the cash flow closely. He should have a look at the company’s financial statements so that he can get an immediate idea about the actual position of the company. Even the day to day liquidity is an important aspect to be considered by the interim CEO. The interim CEO should have the right type of management skills that are required for dealing effectively with a crisis. The interim CEO might not have existing friendships but he must develop them soon within the organization. A good interim CEO will have a specialized crisis management experience so that he can devise solutions for all types of situations. In many situations, the interim CEO may renew the employee expectations to adapt to the new changes in the organization.

Once the organization makes a final decision of hiring an interim CEO, then it will look at the industry experience as the most important factor. Many companies will only consider experience in a similar industry. Most of the companies normally appoint an interim CEO from within the organization. There are directors, managers and officers who are capable of feeling up the temporary position. The interim CEO may bring a fresh perspective in the organization.

The interim CEO concentrates on turnaround efforts for fixing the operational problems such as organizational structure, product costs, budgets and production inefficiencies. In some situations the immediate concern is to maintain the operational and financial integrity of the organization. He may also have to do the negotiations with different parties such as stakeholders, unions, vendors and lenders.

The organization can also hire an interim CEO from a turnaround firm which has individuals dealing in different areas so that the strengths of all the professionals can be maximized. Since it is the business’s survival which is on line it is very important to appoint an interim CEO. It is best to appoint a guy who is a specialist in handling such emergency situations.

The organization should ensure that its interview process for an interim CEO is perfect to assess the qualifications and personal comfort of the candidate. Most importantly, he should able enough to handle successfully the operations of the organization that require attention. Once you have elected an interim CEO, do provide him your full support and don’t let egos clash as the stakes with the new person are too high.

The CEO is the Chief Executive Officer of the organization and he is the senior most authority to run the organization. He is the main link between the Board of Directors and the performance of the organization and he is responsible for implementing any decisions made by the Board of Directors. An expert CEO is a person who leads from the front. He needs to have exceptional leadership qualities to management teams from diverse backgrounds. An expert CEO should be of sound mind at all times and he should be able to take the pressures positively.

He should be able to make the best of the strengths of his subordinates and correct their weaknesses. He should instill the feeling in his employees that they should collectively work as a team for the organization and believe themselves to its stakeholders.

As a leader, he ha the most critical position in any business and he is the sole person responsible for every action, direction and decision of the company. As an expert CEO he is expected to make very few mistakes and correct them as soon as possible. He needs to set an example for the subordinates in the organization to avoid mistakes and if they make mistakes then they should learn from them as soon as possible.

The expert CEO has an open mind to keep up with technology and he has an innate talent to pick up quickly. The CEO is extremely determined and self disciplined as he needs to prioritize the goals of the organization and delegate them to the strategic management team. He will inspire his team and motivate them to achieve nothing but the best. He needs to be aware of any friction happening between the members in different teams and ensure that this friction is ended as soon as possible.

As an expert, the CEO needs to make timely decisions because in today’s world every minutes counts. He is confident and he is unwavering despite the pressures that he faces everyday. He has the ability to make things simple as possible and remove the unnecessary complexities. He has a clear vision of what he wants and what is the best way to get to it.

The CEO has extremely effective communication skills and he should define a clear chain of communication throughout the organization. He should be a good teacher who can articulate the message clearly to his subordinates and ensure that they do the same to their juniors. The expert CEO is street smart, he is quick on his feet, he is savvy and polished. He should have experience of working in all ranks and at all levels of the organization. He had the charisma to inspire his employees. He needs to have an open cabin so that anyone is welcome to give him suggestions or sort out a matter. He has a magnetic charm and a magical speaker as he needs to convince the insiders and outsiders of his organization.

The expert CEO should be honest in his dealings and he should follow all the ethical standards that are expected from him. He needs to choose the high road and he needs to ensure that this principle is followed throughout the organization. He should not be egoistic at all and he needs to understand that ego should not get in the way of business. He demands extra ordinary performance of himself and he should expect the same from people. He should instill performance discipline in the daily chores of his employees. The CEO needs to adapt to changes as he has a high level of adoptive learning capabilities.

An expert CEO will naturally be ready to travel locally or abroad whenever his company demands. He should be well versed with the lifestyle and manners that he needs to know of the country that he is going to visit.

The expert CEO does a self audit of himself regularly and shore up his management where he is lacking. He is a great listener to his Board of Directors, managers, employees, suppliers and the customers. He should be empathetic about them. He ensures that the actions are implemented with consistency, commitment and clarity.

Today the expert CEO needs to adapt to the different leadership approaches and use any or a combination of them as the situation demand. The approach will be according to the business situation and climate. He should be fair in his dealing with his subordinates. He should not be biased towards anyone. Last but not the least, he should be dynamic and multi talented. He is multi faceted and with years of experience in diverse situations and fields.

The effective CEO is like a business entrepreneur, knowing wen to strike when the iron is hot and also knowing when to retreat. He needs to care for his employees and be like a father figure to them.