Paul Van CEO - How to Be a Great CEO
In a competitive marketplace, the CEO can lead a company to great success, or lead the company toward failure. Many times the difference between a great CEO and one that is average is merely a matter of degrees. The average CEO may have all the makings but lacks the knowledge to take advantage of what they have. Paul van Greene says first and foremost, a great CEO is a leader. While many CEOs have the business know-how to lead their company, it takes more than knowing how to run the business to lead a company. The following 3 characteristics are things that are common to most, if not all, great CEOs If you desire to learn how to be a great CEO, you will need to work on developing these characteristics.
Have Integrity In order to be a great leader, you need to have people willing to follow you. If you want people to follow you, they need to trust you. If you say you are going to do something, you will need to follow through and do what you have promised.
Integrity goes beyond just keeping your word. It also implies that you do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. There are times that great leaders need to decide between doing what is right and doing what gives then the greatest short-term advantage. For a CEO that may mean choosing to do what is right at the expense of greater profits. Many of your workers are people of integrity and they want to work at a job that they can take pride in. If you as the leader lack integrity, many
of the best and brightest in your company will soon be looking for opportunities with your competitors.
Cast a Vision There is a saying that if you don't know where you are going you will not know when you get there. That is as true for the CEO of a company as it is for anyone else. The CEO is the person that sets the direction for the company. They need to have the vision to know where the company is going and to see the path the company will need to take in order to get there.
Paul Greene says without vision, a company will become stagnant. For a while, everything will appear to be going well, but over time the
company will begin to lose market share, and any competitive advantages the company had will begin to disappear. A great CEO has the vision to be able to keep the company moving forward in the right direction
Do Not Afraid of Risk Most great CEOs have a streak of fearlessness in them. Along with having a vision is the willingness to pursue that vision even when the odds seem to be against them.
While some CEOs have the proper vision, they do not have the willingness to stand against the board of directors or investors when things do not appear to be going their way. Even though they may
believe that their vision is correct, when the chips are down they will turn from the path they were on and flee to safer ground. Great CEOs will stand their ground. They are willing to put their position and reputation on the line because they believe that their vision is correct and that they have the ability to lead the company through the trying times. Paul van Greene - Great CEOs are not born great. They need to be able to develop the skills and traits that will help them achieve greatness. If you want to learn how to become a great CEO, you need to work on these traits as well.