My CEO Life

Here is a great question

“i am doing a project for school and it says pick your dream job and describe the requirements for that job…i choose the ceo of microsoft and its hard to find the requirements needed…so if you could please help me!”

Firstly, i am doing my dream job.  I love running a business, building new things everyday, competing like mad and working with a great team to change our little part of the world.

So what are the requirements to be a great Chief Executive?  (Not a simple question)

My first thought is that there is no template.  Each CEO has a different way of doing things and they probably come from very different back grounds.

However i believe that there are common traits among great CEO’s – these are:

Vision

Great CEO’s have an absolute clarity in their vision for the business.  The clearly define where the business is going and then ensure that everything they do is in that direction.  The are as much successful for what they do as they are for what they don’t do – ie what do they say NO to.

Passion

Passion is critical to the success of any business and passion starts at the top.  Great CEO’s work like mad, love what they do, don’t really care about how much they get paid and take everything very personally.  It is their business, their baby and they want nothing to get in their way of success.

Leadership

Great CEO’s have amazing leadership.  They know how to get the most out of people without even really trying.  The motivate and incent people by their presence.  They are sometimes larger than life in a business and the earn the respect of those around them.

Decisive

I also think great CEO’s are decisive.  They use the information they have and the input from their people to make quick decisions that most times (8 out of 10) are right.

Politics

Great CEO’s stamp out politics in business.  It is all about letting the cream rise to the top and to ensure that the best ideas and people win the day.  This is hard to acheive but creates amazing value when it does.

Long Term

I think great CEO’s take the long term view to their business.  For them it is not about tomorrow or the next quarter, it is about the long term future – what the business looks like in 5 – 10 years.

Ethical

Finally, and probably most importantly, great CEO’s are ethical in everything they do.  Enron, Worldcom and co didn’t have great CEO’s for a reason.

The bottom line is that a fish rots from the head.  Therefore if this is true, the corollary is true – great business start with a great CEO.

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