What does it take to stay at the top?
Dayton Ogden and Tom Neff
June 2007
In the past decade, ideal qualifications for CEOs have changed dramatically. The CEO’s job has become more time-consuming, complex, international, technical, customer centric and concerned with regulatory issues. As a result, leaders appointed to the CEO post in the US today must have a different approach, skills and experiences to the CEOs of a decade ago: the ability to interact with a wider range of audiences; tolerate intense pressure and scrutiny from regulators and shareholders; champion ethics and integrity; and relinquish the command-and-control approach with the board and the organization.
The pressure of the role has been heightened by events including the financial collapse of Enron and WorldCom which tarnished the corporate world’s image and the subsequent introduction of the Sarbanes Oxley Act which placed new time and money burdens in public companies.
We look at the skills required not only to attain the CEO role today but also the skills and experience needed for today’s leader to be successful in that role.