The Competitive CEOs Skill set.

The skills you require to become a successful leader in your sector.

Cognitive ability

This is raw intellectual horse power and mental agility that helps your creativity and enables you understand situations and circumstances that are sometimes complex and maze-like to the ordinary eye. The ability to think on your feet and proffer solutions to nagging problems in a nick of time.

Strategic Thinking

Your thought process for the company or organization should not be based on the realities of the moment alone. Being strategic in your thinking is tuning your thoughts to the future, both immediate and long term. You ought to have the ability to think up scenarios and long term solutions even before they happen.

Analytical Ability

Ability to sort through diverse sources of information and see what’s important. You ought to be able to, within a short period of time, determine what is critical to continuity and success in an organization, a project or assignment. The analytical ability enables you to determine the most important factors.

Decision making ability

You ought to be able to make sound decisions with minimal risk in an environment of ambiguity and uncertainty.

Personal and Organizational Communication skills

Communication should be your strong point. Remember you are constantly engaging the troops (your followers/team members) and convincing them to tread a path that should lead you and the organization to meet your strategic business objectives. Close to the communication prowess is your ability to influence and persuade different groups. You ought to have salesman skills as well as an understanding of group dynamics.

Managing Diversity

Work groups, businesses and organizations are as diverse as they come in today’s business environment Prepare to manage people from different cultures, gender, age and so on.

Managing Talent

Hiring the best you can find is always an advantage.  But retaining and developing talented people is another story entirely. Thriving CEOs need to learn how to do this.

Ability to learn

Continuous learning should be a commitment and practice of Chief Executive Officers. You ought to be able to learn from your team and adopt the best skills and strategies from them without being intimidated or threatened. You do not have to be the smartest guy in the company to be the CEO.