Article by Business Woman - Jan B. King |
|
|
Jan
B. King
Business Woman
Jan
B. King currently leads a consulting practice
primarily devoted to helping traditional
publishers, writers, and educators with
content development and curriculum design
for print publications and innovative
web sites. In addition she teaches small
business management topics and writes
and speaks extensively on employee-ownership
and participative management. |
| :::
Home> Business
Articles> Author
Jan B. King> Business Leadership
article |
|
|
Five Defining Characteristics of Great CEOs -
Jan B. King |
1.
Personal insight.
Great CEOs are great leaders. They know
themselves and what they stand for. They
have been called on all their lives as problem
solvers because others know them to be fair
and impartial. People respect their opinions
and look to them for guidance. Great CEOs
are mature as people. They can suffer disappointment
more gracefully than others and give others
credit for their achievements. They don’t
come in the office door yelling for something
they need. They aren’t as concerned
about titles or power structures as they
are about the welfare of those who work
at the company. They are trustworthy because
they’ve always been honest with people
and have earned that trust. They care about
families, and they know that people are
more important than dollars and express
it in their actions every day. Finally,
great CEOs seek out feedback. They want
to know how others see them so that they
can understand themselves better and continue
to grow as people. They also want feedback
about the company from an employee perspective,
and they use surveys as a starting point
for creating a dialogue to make things better.
2.
Resourcefulness.
Great CEOs seem to have boundless energy.
They come to work with the greatest enthusiasm.
Even when they don’t feel like it,
they find ways to reenergize themselves
and come in ready to go. They take good
care of themselves physically and emotionally
so that they can be there for the employees
and the needs of the company. They give
much more than they take every day. They
don’t give up. If the wall is too high,
they back down and find another way around.
They don’t blame, but they do look
for solutions to problems so that those
problems are less likely to happen again.
3.
Courage.
The CEO has one of the world’s toughest
jobs. No matter how tough it was to start
the company, it’s even harder to keep
it going and growing. A CEO must decide
what he or she stands for and do what is
right, all the time.
It takes courage to fire the salesperson
responsible for the company’s biggest,
most lucrative account when that same salesperson
drives a company car drunk and causes an
accident. There will be many times when
CEOs will want to smooth over something
that requires decisive action because of
the potential consequences or because they
just can’t take on one more challenge
at the moment. However, CEOs who exercise
poor moral judgment will lose their personal
integrity with all of their employees watching.
4.
Willing to look at risk.
A great CEO isn’t afraid to look at
the downside and answer the hard questions
he or she hopes will never become a reality.
The CEO needs a backup plan—one that
is designed by looking at the company’s
worst-case scenarios. This plan addresses
questions such as: What if your industry
experiences a slump? What if new governmental
regulations affect your business? What if
you lose the client that accounts for 50
percent of your sales?
Preparing yourself and your company for
these eventualities may be the difference
between a tough year or two and bankruptcy.
If you are in business for 20 years, some
of your worst-case scenarios will probably
happen. The key is to be ready and able
to take immediate action to reduce the loss.
5.
Foresight.
It seems some CEOs have an uncanny ability
to predict the future. They may have unusual
insights into their particular markets,
and luck may play a part as well. In addition,
they are prepared to create their own luck
by cultivating an ability to see opportunities
for their company and to make the deals
that convert those opportunities into realities.
Some things that may seem like amazing foresight
are actually the result of the hard work
and discipline it takes to constantly look
forward to build a successful company.
Great CEOs must also constantly develop
new products to build and retain a customer
base. Foresight is also the ability to hire
and retain the right people, looking ahead
toward the growth of the company. Finally,
over time, each company must develop a steady
source of business during both good economic
times and bad, because there are sure to
be bad economic times during the life of
a business. |
|
|
Related Business Resources at Woopidoo.com |
Business
Articles : Entrepreneur
- Small
Business - Leadership
-
Business Quotes
: Business
- Encouragement
- Entrepreneurs
- Leadership
- Management
-
Business Resources
: Small
Business - Training
and Education - Business
Communications
::: Business
Motivation Home> Business
Articles> Author
Jan B. King> Leadership article
|
Jan
B. King , views on business and
on publishing have been widely quoted in
Working Woman Magazine, the American Bar
Association’s Bar Leader magazine,
Small Business USA, Business Finance, the
Los Angeles Business Journal, and on business
web sites such as webhire.com, office.com,
ybn.com, portera.com. She has also appeared
on Making It! a small business television
program on KTTV Los Angeles, The Economic
Journal, a PBS business program, as well
as on numerous nationally syndicated business
radio programs.
Additional information on the author can
be found at www.janbking.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
Business Success |
|
|
|
Jan
King Books |
|
|
|
Jan B. King |
Business Author &
Consultant.
|
|
|
|
|
|
