“I believe the true road to preeminent success in any line is to make yourself master in that line. I have no faith in the policy of scattering one’s resources, and in my experience I have rarely if ever met a man who achieved preeminence in money making.. certainly never one in manufacturing.. who was interested in many concerns.” - Andrew Carnegie

Let’s begin by taking a look at …what a CEO does.

The CEO of a company is the senior manager responsible for overseeing the activities of the entire company. The CEO usually holds a position on the Board of Directors and may also hold the title of president.

What are the responsibilities of the CEO? Well, pretty much everything that you can think of, especially in a startup. The CEO is responsible for the success or failure of a company. Operations, marketing, strategy, financing, creation of company culture, human resources, hiring, firing, compliance with safety regulations, sales, PR, etc.—it all falls on the CEO’s shoulders.

The CEO’s duties are what he actually does himself, duties are responsibilities that aren’t delegated - creating culture, building the senior management team, financing road shows.

However, the main and most important duty a CEO has is to set a vision and a strategy for the company.

Being at the top of an organization is one of the most rewarding things that you can do in life, and many of us have dreamed – and still dream, of becoming a CEO.

At the present moment – 2007, generalist CEO’s are the most common ones, but the years to come will force the generalist CEO to give way to the specialist, whether that’s a global networker of someone with a knack for assembling all-star teams.

In the CEO world, these are the five faces that will be in the greatest demand in the coming years:

1. The Brain. Whether they’re algorithm geniuses, coding prodigies, or merely credentialed scientists or designers, CEOs in touch with their inner geeks will be a sought-after breed. As global competition intensifies the pressure for top-line growth, innovators-in-chief will be more clued in to the next breakthrough business. Plus, their expertise will help them inspire engineering and research and development teams.
2. The Ambassador. A two-year stint in London may have counted as enough international experience in the past, but that won’t be the case much longer. More and more CEO specs call for explicit business experience in emerging markets and the boards are looking for CEOs with passports showing frequent visits to China, India, Russia, Brazil and Dubai. The Ambassador CEO won’t just be familiar with these areas, but will have access to local governments, ruling families and business tycoons.
3. The Dealmaker. The dealmaking specialists will also be in heavy demand in the years to come. Negotiation is a core competence for life, not merely an important skill to be wheeled out for special occasions.
4. The Conductor. As companies form alliances with outsiders and turn to networks of innovators for idea to put into practice, corporations’ walls will get more permeable. Orchestra conductors will be skilled in getting everyone to play in the same key.
5. The Casting Agent. If you think “people are our greatest asset” is overused today, just wait. As the boomers begin retiring en masse, the talent war is only going to worsen. CEOs who can retain the best people and deploy them adeptly will be regarded as hot commodities.

At the beginning of the article, when you were reading the responsibilities of a CEO, did you notice the similarity between them and your life? That means these skills aren’t useful only for CEOs but can be used to enhance your life as well. Wherever you’re heading, perfecting one of these skills will get you there.

You’ve always been a CEO

Since you were born, you’ve been CEO for the biggest and most wonderful organization of all: you. That is the reason why guidelines from the business environment can easily be applied to improve yourself. And that is why improving one of the qualities mentioned above will produce wonderful results in your future.

In business – as in life, 80% of success is obtained by improving, while proving accounts for only 20%; there’s no wonder why the business environment contains so many lessons on self improvement.

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