The CEO is the vision of success in the business world. It’s the man or woman who calls the shots, gets the glory when things go well, and takes the blame when catastrophe strikes. All CEOs have their own style and approach, but there are some common characteristics that can be identified in every boardroom leader.
Not only do CEOs experience heavy scrutiny from stakeholders and employees within their organization, but they also tend to be public figures withstanding pressure from the media and rivals.
Aspiring entrepreneurs will want to know what it takes to rise to the top – and stay there. Leaders from various industries offered what they believe to be key CEO skills in current conditions. This is what they had to say.
Defining Objectives
Some people think CEOs just walk on stage, spout some platitudes, point to their charts and earn a standing ovation for a five-minute speech. That’s just the surface level assessment. In daily life, CEOs are giving highly specific orders to teams throughout the organization to hit goals and move the company forward.
While many CEOs try to take on as much work as personally possible, their efforts will only go so far. Delegation is a skill that all great CEOs need to master if they want to get things done more efficiently at scale.
“Leaders need to be able to clearly delegate tasks,” said Assaf Kostiner, CEO of Paint Your Life. “Most times what is produced is a reflection of the leaders of production. When explaining something, make sure you leave your team without a shadow of doubt. Employees want to feel like their leader is structured and well organized, otherwise it can be difficult to produce where there is a lack of clarity.”
With strong communication skills and objective-based thinking, CEOs can move mountains thanks to great leadership and committed teams behind them.
Total Ownership
To the CEO, a company is an extension of the self. The business is what they live and breathe each day, and working 100-hour weeks is a labor of love rather than a thankless grind.
When a CEO is pitching ideas, mapping out new products, or meeting with investors, they are in their element, so it makes sense that they have a strong sense of ownership in the brand.
“Being a CEO is about mastering your product or service,” said Jing Gao, CEO of Fly By Jing. “When you know what you’re talking about, people tend to gravitate towards you. You have to be driven by your values as well. Stand firm in who you are, what your value proposition is, and look towards the future always, without forgetting your roots.”
There are also many forces at work that constantly push CEOs in different directions and run counter to their vision for the company. True leaders are able to incorporate criticism and advice without diluting their own values or compromising the soul of the company.
Strong Self-Belief
Confidence is a key trait for anyone who wants more out of life, especially CEOs.
This is not to be confused with arrogance, which can turn people away. Since nobody is an island, there must be a degree of humility and space for working with others to achieve big things. The key is to be confident in a way that inspires trust and brings people together.
“Being a CEO is all about humble confidence with a strong dash of persuasion,” said William Schumacher, CEO of Uprising Food. “One must exude confidence in their convictions, yet at the same time, have the humility to adjust the vision or the steps to get there.”
The stereotype of the stubborn CEO might have applied many years ago, but that’s long gone in a world where teamwork and collaboration are crucial in the boardroom.
Visionary Thinking
Businesses don’t just appear out of thin air, and CEOs are often the ones responsible for bridging the gap between vision and reality. The ideas don’t always need to be groundbreaking to be successful. What matters more is a deep understanding of the subject matter and a willingness to make it happen through persistent effort and imagination.
A big part of this process is storytelling and the skill of weaving a narrative that attracts customers, investors, and employees alike.
“Develop a unique insight and learn to storytell around the fact that you are the best person to bring this idea to life,” Olamide Olowe, CEO of Topicals. “Successful businesses are built around intuitive knowledge of an under tapped category.”
The reality of business is that people buy into belief first and foremost – and the aspiring CEO needs to believe in their own vision above all.
Personnel-Based Strategy
The boardroom is just the tip of the iceberg at any company, and smart CEOs put a lot of trust in the people working on the front lines to move the goalposts each day.
It’s not always about giving direct orders and making sure staff follow directions to the letter. Sometimes, employees need to feel empowered with more responsibility and input in order for the company to make big moves.
“To become a successful CEO, you have to approach challenges and obstacles with a different angle,” said John Berry, CEO of Berry Law. “Rather than asking ‘how?’, try asking ‘who?’ This is the hack that I’ve found brings me the greatest success. Naturally, we are all problem solvers. Turn to those who can drive your business forward. Invest your time in building an incredible team who isn’t afraid to take risks and challenge themselves every day for your vision.”
CEOs must identify the strengths and weak points in their teams at every level of the organization to assign objectives correctly and tackle tough projects head-on.
Urgency and Initiative
To the CEO, time is everything. Nothing can be delayed, and procrastination is never even an option. If something can be done now, why wasn’t it done yesterday?
The more efficient the operation, the more money everyone will make, with satisfied stakeholders at every level.
The challenge for CEOs is that few people are on their level in terms of time-sensitivity. The natural tendency is for people to take their time and let simple tasks drag out for hours or days at a time.
Even when nobody else feels the urgency, leaders must generate that initiative to push everyone forward.
“Entrepreneurial leadership requires self-governance,” Nik Sharma, CEO of Sharma Brands. “You have to be able to govern and guide yourself as well as your team. Especially when others are looking towards you, it is extremely important to be able to take action without being told to do so.”
The CEO is always looking for an edge for getting things done faster without sacrificing and ounce of quality. Those who want to walk the path of the CEO should start by taking control of their own time and maximizing output each day.
Ability to Simplify
It’s ancient wisdom that runs counter to intuition – simplifying something is way more challenging than making it more complicated.
Think about a difficult concept like a business plan, engineering project, or even a recipe in a cookbook. It takes a sharp mind to break those things down into easily understood parts and communicate them to the masses.
Looking at a CEO’s daily task list and see that many of their responsibilities involve simplifying things to clients, investors, staff members, teammates, and sometimes even the media.
“Keep it simple. Business owners have had to work within new constraints and adapt fairly quickly and adequately,” said Brent Sanders, CEO of Wicksly. “Nevertheless, you must hold true to the reason your customers chose you in the first place. Keep the offering simple and understandable. Society is craving familiarity right now. Reliability is truly an asset especially in a time like this.”
The brands that everyone knows and loves are quite simple at their core. This is how new companies will gain traction in a crazy world saturated with options and opinions. CEOs that simplify may not get a lot of attention initially, but will be rewarded in the long run.
Powerful Positivity
What kind of CEO walks around with a frown and bad body language? That’s someone who won’t hold their high-level position for much longer.
Business is about numbers and logistics, but it’s also about energy! There’s no room for negativity in the boardroom, even if it looks like things are headed in the wrong direction in the short term. The CEO must look at the facts, stay optimistic and push forward regardless.
“You need to have a very infectiously positive attitude,” Rishi Kulkarni, CEO of Revv. “If you want to lead people you need to be someone who constantly shares positivity. You have to foster a good spirit in the team and make everyone see the attractiveness of the job and the mission.”
A positive attitude shouldn’t be mistaken for naivety or a lack of grounding in reality. Rational optimism and a focus on action is the winning formula.
Recognition of Strengths
CEOs need to be exceptionally well rounded in all areas, from finance and accounting to marketing and product development. However, there will reach a point when they can’t handle a highly technical task or something is just outside their wheelhouse.
This is the moment when CEOs need to recognize their own strengths and acknowledge that there are other people who might be better suited to handle a specific job. This takes discipline and a high level of trust in others, especially early on in the game.
“As an entrepreneur in the early days, I began to understand that, if I wasn't 100% the right person to handle a task, then I needed to delegate it - and do so quickly,” said Jordan Dwayne, CEO of 6 Ice. “Everyone has specialties when it comes to their business-related ‘gifts,’ and to be truly productive, you need to focus your time and energy on those areas. Therefore, understanding when you should outsource can become one of the most important business decisions you will ever make.”
On the flip side, a CEO may be pressured to outsource too quickly in order to grow the company more rapidly. Stakeholders will add pressure from every angle, and it’s important for leaders to hold on to the aspects of the business that they know best.
Readiness to Risk
Great CEOs will present a vision of stability and steadiness, conveying to others that everything is always under control with no risks to worry about. Quite the opposite is true in most cases, and CEOs must be willing to take big risks if they seek significant payoffs.
This is doubly true for entrepreneurs that start from square one. Every decision is vital when gaining momentum from a standstill, and one wrong move can cause the house of cards to crumble. This takes supreme focus and confidence to pull off correctly
“I believe that, at some point in any CEO’s business venture, a true entrepreneur must take risks to achieve any type of real growth,” said Timmy Yanchun, Co-Founder of LTHR Shaving.
“Many companies become complacent after reaching a certain plateau, but if 2020 taught us anything, it's that we can never expect too much by doing too little.”
Alternatively, CEOs must know when to pump the brakes and stop pushing forward to preserve their position. It’s a constant game of back-and-forth with so much on the line.
Prepared to Pivot
Every CEO will provide a different definition of what it means to “pivot” in business, but the general theme is the same. Pivoting is when a CEO decides to move things in a new direction to capture market share, transform brand identity, take on competitors from a new angle, or simply backpedal from a strategy that isn’t panning out how they hoped.
“Being a business leader requires that you stay innovative, and are ready to pivot on a moment's notice,” said Rachel Jones, Head of PR of Hope Health Supply. “Therefore, an important task includes constantly devising new, creative ideas that can play a part in your marketing strategies. Remaining visible is extremely important in the current business environment, so thinking outside the box when setting up campaigns and exploring new PR opportunities is absolutely essential.”
Pivots don’t need to be transformative. They don’t even need to be made public or discussed with everyone in the organization. Sometimes the most effective pivots are subtle and set companies up for success without a massive coordinated effort.
Motivational to Others
Some people just have that aura of excellence that inspires others around them to perform better than ever. It’s a mix of positivity, certainty, and focus that CEOs should aim to cultivate as they work alongside team members and offer positive reinforcement.
This isn’t a top-down type of leadership that uses scare tactics to pressure employees. The greatest CEOs behave and communicate like real people who are relatable and trustworthy, even though they have sky-high aspirations.
“As a leader, you have to know how to compliment your team members,” said Jeff Goodwin, Sr. Director of Marketing & Ecommerce at Orgain. “This is an effective communication skill because so much of someone’s motivation to work comes from being rewarded, not only monetarily, but also through the validation and appreciation of their work.”
Recognition is a tricky thing, of course, and it has to be authentic to work. Every CEO needs to find his or her own style of recognition without diluting the value of their word.
Always Action-Ready
What’s the one word that makes every CEO cringe and wince? Hesitation. Careful planning or strategizing is one thing, but hesitating out of nervousness or fear is something that a true CEO cannot stand for.
Not all decisions result in action – some are choices to do nothing and stand by. Still, they are choices nonetheless and they need to be made in order for the company to succeed.
“There’s an entrepreneur right now, scared to death, making excuses, saying, ‘It’s not the right time just yet,’” said Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank. “There’s no such thing as a good time. I started an apparel-manufacturing business in the tech-boom years. I mean, come on. Get out of your garage and go take a chance, and start your business.”
Pride in the Work
Everyone should take pride in what they do, but for a CEO, they need to love every aspect of their job to achieve the outcomes they want.
Money is great, but at a certain point a CEO must be motivated to work and win out of pure passion for their company or the art of business in general. Leaders can inspire employees to embrace this attitude and be proud of what they do as well.
“Being a CEO is a huge responsibility, but it also offers opportunities that are difficult to even describe,” said Travis Killian, CEO of Everlasting Comfort. “I take great pride in offering quality products that can bring relaxation and wellness to consumers - especially in difficult times. And as a CEO, I can create new products, make pivots at a moment's notice and provide a nurturing work environment for all of my employees, which is essential for employee engagement.”
The CEO role combines brand mythology, front-line leadership, PR management, and so much more. The next generation of CEOs has a lot to learn and many opportunities for the taking.
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