Other than the board of directors, the Chief Executive Officer, mostly known as CEO, is at the top of the corporate leader. Primarily, this is the person who calls the shots for the company, and his or her decisions can have a large impact on the company or its direction.
Besides being at the top of the corporate ladder, CEOs work in a variety of businesses, from small start-ups to organisations with thousands of employees. They may just focus on high level strategies involving corporate growth and sometimes give tasks related to daily business operations to other managers.
Regardless of the hustles, the position is one of the desired ranks in a company, since it generally offers significant financial rewards, not forgetting that it might be the hardest position, which brings a need to acquire significant qualification to earn it.
According to Felix Karekezi, a career coach and personal consultancy, Company Executive Officers are generally skilled, compared to others. They are more talented; more execution-oriented, more charismatic, more creative and strategic, due to a number of responsibilities they may hold such as;
Communicating with shareholders, the board of directors, and the public.
Evaluating the work of other executive leaders in the company
Developing and leading long-term and short-term strategies
Creating and executing the company’s vision and mission
Creating and implementing company vision and mission
Setting high-level goals for the organisation
Setting organisational culture and assessing risks for the company
He adds that, having all these great strong managerial skills can be stressful at some point, which doesn’t make all great leaders become great CEOs.
"Great CEOs turn to be unpretentious, a way that makes them able to get their team and stakeholders execute more effectively which turns a different,” he says
Due to development, evolution and a high competitive world of today, only a bachelor’s degree can’t make you a great CEO, at least a master’s degree in business administration (MBA), or a similar degree can influence your way up to CEO, in addition of other skills such as management and leadership skill, Karekezi says.
With an MBA course, areas such as strategic management, organisational theory, finance and managerial economics are covered, and that may give you better ways for duty management as CEO.
Although some believe that a great CEO is born, Eric Muhire, the owner of Kigali Solar Energy Technology, says a great CEO can also be made, regarding an individual’s standards of education, combination of data analysis and experience.
"Depending on the years of professional experience, knowledge or competencies sharpened throughout the journey, obviously may relate to good management skills, best business practices and leadership skills, as qualities that help build a solid foundation for a ‘successful corner office,” Muhire says
Muhire goes on to say that, you also have to deeply understand the market trend, by knowing where the market is going to be in the next five years, how the competitive landscape is going to look like shortly.
"You need to be able to predict the future of your company. In the process, you need to also think on the behalf of your consumers more than they think or understand themselves. When it comes to what your business does right and the goods and services you offer in the buying decisions. The better you understand your consumer, the better you are able to lead the business.”
Ariane Muhorakeye, a consultant thinks that a CEO must be skilled with various skills such as handling stress, social skills, be open minded, transparency, approachable, flexible, amongst others, but above all, one must first build a good reputation that matches with the skills to merit the post.
One must have strong management skills, since they are regularly tasked with directing an organisation’s operations to boost corporate growth. This type of skill goes so well with strong leadership skills, as CEOs must be able to empower this growth through the coordination of people, resources, and policies.
CEOs must have strong communication skills in order to effectively discuss and explain their vision to a wide range of individuals, from employees to board members. Furthermore, CEOs need to be able to communicate in a manner that is not only clear, but also persuasive.
This responsibility regularly requires making decisions that affect the company’s success; CEOs must be equipped with strong decision-making and problem-solving skills. They must be able to analyse situations, recognise issues, and execute successful solutions to keep the company moving in the proper direction. These skills are often needed on a daily basis.
CEOs have a lot on their plate on any given day. Therefore, they essentially have to know how to effectively manage their time to ensure vital tasks are handled and goals are met.
Being genuine by talking to individuals about how they have achieved success and the environment that took place around that, is also one key to consider.
Experts say that after following the science art behind being a great Company Executive Officer, what matters most is the execution and the creative strategy in terms of being successful.