Duties and responsibilities
A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest ranking executive in any company. They act as the main point of communication between the board of directors and the corporate operations. They are often the public face of a company and are elected by shareholders. have a huge amount of responsibility, which includes things such as:
- Communicating with shareholders, government entities and the public
- Creating and implementing the companies vision and mission
- Setting company goals and helping the company work towards them
- Evaluating the work of other executive leaders within the company
- Keeping up to date with the competitive market, expansion opportunities and industry developments
- Ensuring the company maintains high social responsibility
- Ensuring that company risks are monitored and minimised
Qualifications
Ideally, a chief executive will need a bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as business administration, public administration, law or liberal arts. To have the best opportunities, CEO’s will achieve a masters degree in business administration (MBA).
What is most important, however, is work experience. Most CEO’s will advance up from lower level positions within the company. Therefore, they need be dedicated and committed to gathering suitable work experience in a related field.
Skills and relevant work experience
As well as relevant experience, CEO’s will need skills such as:
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- Leadership skills, as CEO’s are top executives and must be able to confidently lead and direct the company
- Verbal and written communication skills, as CEO’s will need to communicate with stakeholders, employees and the public. They will also need to respond to emails and keep documents neatly updated
- Interpersonal skills, as CEO’s act as the face of the company and must build trusting relationships with shareholders and the public
- Entrepreneurial mindset, as CEO’s must be able to think clearly, set goals and work hard
- Customer service skills, as CEO’s must work with customer needs at the forefront of their mind
- Organization skills, as CEO’s have a huge amount of responsibility and must be able to manage their time
Hours
Most CEO’s will work full time. They may often find themselves working overtime, long hours to meet deadlines. They may also travel a lot to attend meetings or meet with stakeholders.
Salary
According to salary.com the median annual salary for a CEO in the United States is $823,896. The bottom 10% can expect to earn less than $463,518 and the highest 10% earn over $1,206,880 per annum.
Progression
CEO’s progress from lower roles. Such roles include operation managers, operation directors, or other management roles. Once you have reached CEO level, there is little further progression. Often, it takes years to become a CEO. Therefore, many people stay as a CEO until they retire.