OMG Digital Magazine OMG Issue 276 14th September 2017 | Page 18

OMG Digital Magazine | 276 | Thursday 14 September 2017 • PAGE 18
Business
Introverts or
Extroverts?
Who Makes The
Better CEO?
By: Logan Chierotti
Do you have what it takes to be a CEO? The most
successful all share these four specific traits.
The world's most comprehensive leadership study,
ghSmart's CEO Genome Project, has just been
completed. During the research, the team identified
four primary attributes of CEO's and produced other
findings that challenged widely held assumptions
about leadership.
The study, which took place over ten years, pulled
information from a database of 17,000 C-suite
executives and over 2,000 CEO's.
To analyze the data, a team of 14 researchers with
expertise in psychology, economics, finance and data
science reviewed information from CEO's from all
the key industries. The collaborative project included
researchers from the University of Chicago, Copenhagen
Business School, NYU, and SAS Inc.
The goal of the analysis was to answer important
questions such as:
Are there specific attributes that are predictive of
becoming a CEO?
Are the attributes of CEO's the same, or different, from
other C-suite Executives?
What attributes do boards look for in a CEO, and are
these characteristics predictive of CEO success?
The study results challenged a few widely held beliefs
on leadership.
The first is the idea of the charismatic, extroverted CEO.
Boards prefer CEO's with outgoing personalities and
high levels of confidence, but introverts are more likely
to surpass expectations.
Another interesting finding was related to the number
of mistakes CEO's have made in their earlier careers.
Instead of having flawless work histories, the study
showed that nearly half the CEO's had experienced
major career blow-ups that had ended in the loss of a
job.
However, the most insightful aspect of the study was the
realization that high-achieving CEO's share four specific
characteristics. While each CEO did not show excellence
in all four characteristics, the majority had distinguished
themselves in at least more than one category.
So, if you're a current CEO, or trying to make the jump
to the C-suite level, pay close attention honing the 4
characteristics in your day-to-day work.
1. Deciding With Speed and Conviction -Moving fast
on decisions and sticking to them is the prime factor of
good CEO. People described as "decisive" were 12 times
more likely to be high performers. "Good CEO's realize
that making a bad decision may be better than making
no decision at all."
2. Engaging for Impact - Once the plan is set, good
CEO's quickly achieved buy-in from employees and
stakeholders. They also understand stakeholder needs
and motivations, which helps drive decision-making
and organizational support.
3. Adapting Proactively - Reacting to unforeseen
challenges and opportunities is a must for every great
leader. This characteristic was mentioned above all the
rest when interviewing CEO's directly. CEO's that adapt
quickly are 6.7 times more likely to succeed.
4. Delivering Reliably - Producing results is another
fundamental element of a good CEO. Both employees
and stakeholders will trust a proven leader who delivers
on promises and achieves their goals. CEO's that
produce reliable results are a whopping 15 times more
likely to succeed.
Being the CEO of a company is one of the most
challenging jobs in business. However, if you can master
these 4 traits, you'll be way ahead of the competition.