Leadership Qualities Every CEO Should Have

Every leader is different... some are natural-born leaders and others worked hard to develop such respected skills. The commonality is the final product: An influential executive. However, being CEO can definitely continue to be an intimidating position considering the amount of responsibility and accountability leaders have. Therefore, it’s imperative to always seek ways to sharpen your leadership skills to become the executive you aspire to be. We all have room for improvement.

Successful CEOs developed their leadership qualities and, with time, have mastered many skills. Every leader, however, must reflect on the following traits to master inspiring others and increase company growth.

Emotional Intelligence - Beyond your expertise lies emotional intelligence. The most effective leaders develop emotional intelligence skills to work smarter and better with a wider variety of people. With businesses constantly changing, leaders who can recognize and apply the power of employees’ emotions along with their own are able to facilitate higher levels of collaboration and productivity.

Vision - Leaders must have vision to achieve their business goals. Leaders focus on the future and always think of ways to improve strategies or plans. Simply put, leaders think bigger than most. In order to succeed, leaders need to cast their vision and ensure they have the right team in place to bring the idea to fruition. Then, you you’ll feel comfortable enough to step aside, watch it unfold and oversee the plan from beginning to end.

Effective Communication - Communication is key and in a leadership role, it’s imperative in order to succeed. Leaders must know how to communicate effectively and listen actively. Leaders are incredibly busy and have many things on their mind; this can make it very difficult to listen attentively. Savvy leaders understand there is optimum power in listening, asking questions, and giving thoughtful opinions.

In summation, being a leader isn’t easy, but by recognizing and improving your management skills, a lot can be accomplished. In order to accomplish business goals as the head of your company, you must remind yourself to think about these qualities in yourself and what you can do to hone these skills for personal and professional growth.

Are there other important leadership qualities you found to be crucial for CEOs? Leave a comment and share your insight.

About the Author

Growing up in multiple military bases throughout the world, having survived breast cancer and being laid off by a company she loved, Stephanie Chung has lived and learned from some of life’s toughest challenges. But with her natural ability to own a room and create positive change, Chung used her life’s challenges to learn and become stronger, ultimately becoming a professional and inspiring leader. Backed by more than 25 years of team management, business development, and sales leadership experience, today Chung is an award-winning FocalPoint Business Coach based in Dallas, Texas. She works with leaders around the world as an executive coach, sales mentor and business advisor. Chung is also a public speaker and a contributor of The Change Book Series. For more information visit www.coachstephaniechung.com.