Successful CEO's

Successful CEO's & their characteristics

1. Having a Vision

Being at the top of the pyramid, a great CEO must be able to clearly communicate the vision of the company in order to inspire staff, investors and customers. As the company flag-bearer, all eyes turn to the CEO for direction and example.

2. Macro Management

While it is key for the CEO to understand the every-day activities of the organization and how all the parts fit together to move the company forward, the best CEOs do not get dragged into the seductive lure of micro managing granular details. Instead they maintain a highly trained management team that is fully capable of handling these tasks.

This enables the CEO to remain focused on the primary duties of increasing revenues, and meeting the goals identified in the vision.

3. Leveraging Industry Trends

Staying on top of industry trends through reading, attending conferences and joining trade associations is essential for CEOs to ensure that the direction and vision for the company is on course. The ability to see into the future is invaluable for steering clear of potential threats and capitalizing on future opportunities.

This is especially important in the constantly evolving technology industry where the CEO needs to determine which changes will have long-term impact and which are merely fads with little real value.

4. Develop a Foundation of Strength

No company or CEO is successful without a strong management team. Each member must be a leader that knows and is accountable for his or her job responsibilities (and does not try to do the work of other team members).

Quality managers in turn, know how to mentor and acknowledge the accomplishments of their own staffs in order to keep them motivated, involved and on track to meet the business goals of the company.

5. Customer’s are at the Core

Successful CEOs look beyond their raw technology and focus on finding ways to help customers solve their problems. They describe their products in terms of how they address the needs and challenges of their customer’s instead of listing product capabilities.

Great CEOs use their own customers’ words and verbiage. Through weekly meetings with customers, CEOs have an endless supply of anecdotal situations to share with stakeholders that help create a better product and a more thorough understanding of the customer requirements for a successful business relationship.

This article is a guest contribution from Nadel Phelan.

Dr. Phelan is President & CEO of NPI PR (npipr.com) and has 20+ years of experience in global marketing, market research and public relations for high-tech companies including HP, Cisco and Microsoft.