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CEO Competencies

Personal, managerial and leadership skills required of the Chief Executive Officer.

Updated: 4/27/2005 11:14:00 AM

Communicates a compelling Vision and sense of core purpose, enlisting staff and others, and inspiring their allegiance to its fulfillment.
Espouses an appropriate set of core values and beliefs during both good and adverse times, and acts consistently in line with those values. Practices what he preaches.
Creates a climate conducive to an attitude of integrity, trust and professionalism, irrespective of job role, such that everybody wants to do his/her best.
Motivates staff to perceive their jobs as an avocation, much as they feel about pastimes, and to find ways for them to experience the same kinds of satisfaction.
Communicates with, motivates and coordinates the efforts of a large and influential force of member-volunteers supplemental staff, ensuring that they participate in development and effective implementation of programs that are needed and wanted by members.
Helps others to rise above self-limiting mindsets and constraints to make full use of their capabilities.
Encourages an attitude of lifelong learning to develop new skills that enable continued personal and career growth.
Builds team spirit, effectively blends people into teams when needed, and develops an appreciation for the value of the diversity that is generated by team cooperation.

Sets standards of performance; gives feedback on performance, or lack thereof, to those standards; coaches for improved performance and development.
Oversees projects and delegated assignments to ensure they are completed on schedule and within budget, and that results meet defined expectations.
Relishes the command role, including unpopular stands as necessary, encourages debate, deals directly with adversity, and handles timely decision-making in an equitable and caring manner.
Prepares, implements, monitors and adjusts budgets to remain within approved expenditure limits.
Establishes and uses records, reports and other techniques to identify and track performance accountabilities.
Defines tasks, selects assignees, negotiates performance parameters and priorities, delegates authorities & accountabilities, supports rigorous problem-solving disciplines, and manages progress.
Attends to workplace and employment concerns and regulatory considerations, to ensure employees have a wholesome environment conducive to high performance and employment longevity.
Listens actively, speaks and writes clearly and succinctly suitable for a variety of applications and settings, and communicates to get the message across and achieve desired results.

Relates to all kinds of people, uses diplomacy and tact, is able to diffuse tense situations, and builds rapport and constructive relationships.
Exercises patience and tolerance, and characteristically listens and tests to understand both the data and the people ramifications before acting.
Displays compassion about people’s work and non-work difficulties and is available to help; and is composed under pressure, dealing well with frustrations and not becoming defensive or aggressive.
Skilled at finding common ground to solve problems, and accurately reads conflict situations quickly and hammers out cooperative agreements with minimal disruption.
Knows personal strengths and limits and handles them appropriately, and assesses the need to modify personal behaviors to deal with changing demands and personalities.
Displays approachability and a positive and constructive sense of humor, and is able to ease tensions.

Marshals resources and uses them effectively and efficiently to orchestrate multiple activities and get things done.
Copes effectively and shifts gears comfortably dealing with change, maintains composure amidst uncertainty and can simultaneously manage multiple activities.
Scopes out accurately the difficulty of projects, sets objectives and goals, breaks down work into process steps, develops schedules and assignments, establishes measures and evaluates results.
Looks toward the broad perspectives of issues and challenges, can presuppose future scenarios, and thinks globally.
Sees ahead clearly, can articulate credible pictures of possibilities and likelihoods, and can create breakthrough strategies and plans.
Facilitates effectively the business processes and tasks activities of large, diverse workgroups comprised of staff and volunteers.

Focuses on customer service and is dedicated to meeting requirements and expectations of internal and external “customers”.
Acts with customers in mind, gaining their trust and respect, and establishing and maintaining effective relationships.
Exudes energy, is action oriented, enjoys working diligently, and can act with a minimum of planning in the face of uncertain circumstances.
Consistently can be relied on to achieve or exceed goals and is very bottom-line oriented, steadfastly urging himself and others for results.