In the book Who: A Method for Hiring the question is asked, what traits do CEO’s have that make them successful? By conducting interviews of 1,000 venture backed companies CEO’s and then comparing their financial performance the author and their research teams discovered the following:
There are two types of CEO’s that are successful.
#1. Grazers. These CEO’s get feedback from many people in their company. They take longer to make decisions, but they get wide buy in and are popular with their boards and with their employees. About 55% of the time these CEO’s are successful.
#2 Cheetahs. These CEO’s are very aggressive. They are respectful of others but they make decisive decisions and they push the company in a direction and they commit to it. 100% of the time these CEO’s are successful.
The lesson: To be a successful CEO, be a Cheetah and graze with people in your company often. In other words, get buy in for your decisions, but focus on being swift, decisive and aggressive.
I’ve put this into practice and let me tell you – It works darn well.
