Our CEO Checklist continued

In continuing with our musings on what a CEO should be, we came up with a second trait that every one of our successes displayed: Entrepreneurial mentality.

Entrepreneurs are known for their wide reaching abilities, for trying things that haven’t been tried before and not being afraid to do so.

Entrepreneurs reach out beyond their own orga­nization and industry; they listen and talk to people from a wide range of backgrounds. They encourage, support and solicit off-the-wall ideas and then use experi­ence and imagination to make the idea come to life. Boards like a CEO with an entrepreneurial bend who can ‘think outside of the box’—who is not afraid to try out new ideas that come from beyond the association management norm.

To be entrepreneurial, demonstrate that you are on the lookout for—and open to—innovative management and leader­ship ideas from anywhere; from other CEOs, other industries, even other countries. Boards often say they need a CEO with new “energy” and ideas that will either bring in new income or cut costs with­out sacrificing services. So do just that, come equipped with some innovative ways in which you can effect positive change in the association through unconventional and creative means. If you never considered yourself as a particularly inventive risk-taker-type, then make sure you surround yourself with people who are.

If Only They Knew...

A Top-Tier US University asked us to speak to their students about the whole job acquisition process from the very beginning; writing the resume and cover letter, to the final stages of the interview. We have been compiling information we thought would be beneficial to them but realized that we have a useful resource in you. We would like to ask you to comment to this blog with suggestions for us.

What do you wish had been taught to the recent college graduates you have had experience with?

If you could give them one piece of advice, what would it be?

What was good about interviews with college students or recent graduates? What could be better?

Your comments and responses would be greatly appreciated by us and the students. Please don't hesitate to contribute.

Our CEO Checklist- Do you have what it takes?

We recently were approached by a magazine to write an article on the three or four traits that we found all successful CEO's exhibited. We've been brainstorming in the office as to what the some of the most important traits are and one that immediately struck us was: Strong Communication Skills.

Everyone can communicate, that's a no brainer, but not everyone can communicate well.

We recently had a highly reputable executive completely confuse the Search Committee to the point where nobody knew what he was talking about. After having rambled on for a few minutes he stopped (to our relief) just to ask "What was the question again?" He was not an effective communicator that day! We have found that the best CEO's are clear and concise. It's the simple premise; less is more. Say what you need, with no ifs, ands, or buts. This is the case in most any career path, especially one requiring dealing with a lot of people. You need to be able to get your message across quickly, in a way that everyone can understand. Communication skills and having them are make it or break it when it comes to getting that position.

Stay tuned for the rest of the entries in this series, we will continue it until the article is complete.