What is a CEO

The abbreviation CEO usually stands for Chief Executive Officer or less commonly Corporate Executive Officer. It is the highest paid position in an Incorporated company. The Chief Executive Officer normally reports directly to the Board of Directors and Shareholders of the company. He sometimes is the top person on the Board of Directors and sometimes just their answer person.

To rise to the top and become a CEO it helps if you are doing something that you really like, if you don’t then you’re not going to be that successful at it. You have to enjoy the field you are working in and welcome the challenge of working with people you may have disagreements with. Running a successful business involves utilizing the right people with the right skills and placing them in the right positions. It is also important not to micro-manage the tasks of those under you but give them the freedom to solve problems using their own methods.

Arthur Carmazzi, considered one of the top ten leadership coaches in the world teaches that “as a leader you must allow others to fail… If your into control, into making sure everything is perfect it is not going to happen and therefore you will not develop leadership in others. So you must allow others to fail”.

By allowing others to fail you can help them learn from their mistakes and where they went wrong. Learning through failure is an effective ways of becoming a stronger leader.

How to become a ceo quickly?

So how long does it take to become a ceo? If your young then you have a greater chance of rising to the top and becoming a CEO quickly in the tech sector, particularly the internet field.

More public-company CEOs age 40 and under lead organizations involved in technology products or services than work in any other industry.

Examples include the following:

Mark Zuckerberg

Created Facebook when he was just 19 years old.
Estimated Net worth: $3.2 Billion

Matt Mullenweg

Created WordPress when he was 19 years old
His Estimated Net worth: (Unknown)

Tom Anderson

Created Myspace when he was 23 years old.
His Estimated Net worth: $100 Million

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Created Google when they were just 24 years old.
There Estimated Net worth: $18.5 Billion Each

Jerry Yang & David Filo

Created Yahoo when they were just 26 and 28 years old
There Estimated Net worth: $2.2 Billion Each

Chad Hurley and Steve Chen

Created Youtube when they were 28 and 27.
Their Estimated Net worth: $300 Million Each

Pierre Omidyar

Created Ebay when he was 28 years old
His Estimated Net worth: $8.8 Billion

If you start out in the tech field this can help executives in related business, such as retail. Michael Soenen, 36-year-old chief of flower seller FTD, recalls becoming CEO of his company’s Web division in 1999. “Internet CEOs were young by nature, and the success we were having made me a logical choice,” Soenen explains. “Having run that business successfully, becoming CEO of FTD Inc. was a natural extension for me.”

Many of the youngest CEOs achieved their position by launching their own companies from scratch. If you want to be a CEO quickly start a company and call yourself a CEO. Becoming a CEO does not always have to involve a long arduous rise to the top.

How to become a CEO of a company?

To know how to become a CEO of a specific organization it is useful to understand how major CEOs in that organization got there, their background, education and what they have in common.

For example take banking. How to become a CEO of a bank?

Some of the top CEO bankers include:

Lloyd Blankfein – Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Goldman Sachs

• Born in to a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City
• Attended Harvard University, in 1978, Blankfein received a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
• Blankfein earned a total of $53.4 million in 2006, making him one of the highest paid executives on Wall Street.

James L.  Dimon – CEO and chairman of JPMorgan

• His grandfather, a Greek immigrant from Turkey, was a broker and passed on his knowledge of the business to his son and partner.
• He majored in psychology and economics at Tufts University, before earning an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School

John Mack

• Mack was born in 1944 the sixth son to Lebanese immigrants.
• Mack graduated from Duke University in 1968
• Worked at several firms around Wall Street before starting his career at Morgan Stanley in 1972

John Stumpf – Chairman, President and CEO of Wells Fargo & Company.

• Received his BS degree in finance from Saint Cloud State University and his MBA in finance from the University of Minnesota.
• Joined Norwest Corporation in 1982 as senior vice president and chief credit officer for Norwest Bank

Many Bank CEOs share a similar history in that they often graduated with degrees in law, finance or business sometimes from prestigious universities such as Harvard.

Many of these CEOs spent time in wall street before becoming bank CEOs or were CEOs of major cooperation’s before becoming bank CEOs.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Michael Andrew received his MBA from Suffolk University and his Certificate in Advanced Management Studies from Babson College.

A recognized thought leader who applies and offers practical insights for business professionals, he is the former head of the Leadership Institute with Rockwell Automation and regional head of Management and Leadership Development with Digital Equipment Corporation.

In the following interview on Fox news Mike discusses his book and the key chapters on thinking like a CEO and acting like a leader.

The following is a summary of the key points in the video and some of the chapters of his book:

Treat issues coldly, people warmly.

That’s the difference between leadership and boss-ship. Its dealing with the issue head on but doing it in a respectful manner. One example he gives is president Reagan and Tip O’Neill. Those two disagreed vehemently on so many issues but they did it in a very respectful way.

Enhance your know-how and know-who

In today’s knowledge era it’s very important to keep enhancing our know-how, but just as important as enhancing our know-how is our know-who and our know-who is our network of relationships. Its people that we know that we can call to get answers, to help us make a decision.

Have the wisdom of Columbo (to ask the ‘dumb’ question)

In business have the confidence and wisdom to ask what may appear to be a dumb question. An example that is given is of inspector Columbo.

Three reasons. Having the confidence and wisdom to ask questions means you are not missing out on important information necessary to your function as a leader.

Secondly it creates an example to others to ask questions that they may not otherwise have asked out of embarrassment gaining knowledge that may be necessary to their role in the organization.

Thirdly creativity is essential to becoming a leader or CEO. Often this means thinking outside the box and asking questions which may at first seem dumb or ridiculous.

Have the courage to be candid

If people are well and truly your biggest asset you’ve got to be honest with them and you’ve got to be candid with them. This also goes right back to treating the issue coldly and people warmly.

Stay one step ahead

That’s all about being pro-active. Staying one step ahead gives you an edge over others and makes it appear that your much more informed of the subject then others. Satchel Paige said “don’t look back, someone may be gaining on you”.

Show others how much you care

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Customers and clients are unlikely to forget if you show them that you care. This could involve little more then a phone call. This is where social and emotional intelligence plays a part.

Transcript of the video interview below:

Frank: Joining us this morning with a advice on how to be a successful leader and deliver results in 09 is Michael Andrew. He’s the author of how to think like a CEO and act like a leader, practical insights for performance and results. A big name but a great book, Michael welcome aboard, happy New Year.

Michael F. Andrew: Thank you frank, good to be here.

Frank: Tell us why did you write the book and give us a little bit about your background as well.

Michael F. Andrew: Well I started my career in finance and I got my MBA and post MBA degree. About 20 years ago I went into the leadership and executive development field and I had experiences working with senior leaders all over the world. Both inside large companies and within my own consulting practice. What was evolving and percolating was putting all my lessons learned and knowledge gained in a book. So I wanted to write a book that did two things. One that increased the readers comfort level with their business acumen, their sense of business. That was the how to think like a CEO part but also give the reader practical insights that we can all apply day to day to be consistently more effective.

Frank: Yes and you don’t have to be a CEO, these are kind of life’s lessons as well which is great.

Michael F. Andrew: Absolutely, actually the book is geared to anybody that works for a living

Frank: That’s all of us last time I checked.

Michael F. Andrew: Exactly!

Frank: Well lets jump in Michael. You have some great insights here. First separating issues and personnel. I’m too nice sometimes but you had a good point I thought.

Michael F. Andrew: Well that chapter is called “Treat Issues Coldly, People Warmly.” You know something Frank, we can do both. They are not mutually exclusive. That’s the difference between leadership and boss-ship. Its dealing with the issue head on but doing it in a respectful manner. One example I always think of is president Reagan and Tip O’Neill. Tip was from Massachusetts – speaker of the house – liberal. Reagan was our president – conservative. Those two disagreed quite often on so many issues, vehemently on so many issues but you know something they did it in a very respectful way. And they were great buddies at the end of the day, great role models.

Frank: Enhance your know-how and your know-who

Michael F. Andrew: Well, you know since the beginning of time man has always had to enhance and develop their know how, whether it be hunting, the cultural era or the industrial era. In today’s knowledge era it’s very important to keep enhancing our know-how, but just as important as enhancing our know-how is our know-who and our know-who is our network of relationships. Its people that we know that we can call to get answers, to help us make a decision. And when I look back at all of the leadership programs that I’ve ran for a lot of these major cooperation, the executives valued the new things that they learned, their know-how. Enabling them to look their business in new and different ways. But what they really valued was their know-who. The expansion of their relationships and networks inside the cooperation and outside the cooperation.

Frank: Absolutely, and I guess being a CEO you think your kind of on this peddlestill but its ok to ask a dumb question right.

Michael F. Andrew: You know I have a chapter there called “Have the Wisdom of Columbo”. Do you remember detective Colombo from that TV show. He would scratch his head, wear his wrinkled coat and ask all these dumb questions to the murderer and the murderer always thought he had the wool pulled over Colombo’s eyes because he was asking these dumb questions but every dumb question got Colombo closer to the core and proof of who the murderer was. Now in business it’s having the confidence, not only the wisdom but the confidence to ask the dumb question. How many times have you been in meetings when people might say, “You know Frank, that was a great question” when really it was a dumb question, or “you know something Frank, I wanted to ask that question”. Have the confidence to ask the dumb question.

Frank: What also creates a precedence so they won’t be afraid to ask another question somewhere down the road if its an important one or whatever the case may be.

Michael F. Andrew: Exactly, and I always say when I got my MBA the number one thing it did to me, it gave me confidence, a certain confidence to ask those dumb questions so it served me well.

Frank: I liked this one. “Just be candid and direct. Its ok if you’re a CEO you’ve got to tell people sometimes. You have to be harsh. You’ve got to be… I don’t like that. You have to change.

Michael F. Andrew: That’s a perfect way to state that frank. Its tough being candid but that’s why I think we call it work. Jack Welch wrote a book. A best selling book called winning. He had a chapter devoted to “The biggest dirty little secret in business is the lack of candour in business”. I think if people are well and truly your biggest asset you’ve got to be honest with them and you’ve got to be candid with them. By the way that goes right back to treating the issue coldly and people warmly.

Frank: Absolutely, and stay one step in front ahead of everything and show a little love I guess.

Michael F. Andrew: Stay one step ahead. That’s all about being pro-active and I know in the business that I’m in im on conference calls every day throughout the week and you can tell when people come prepared to these meetings and conference calls. I always say if you just spend 10 minutes getting prepared for the meeting you’ll probably be 10 minutes more prepared then the next person. It reminds me of Satchel Paige when he said “don’t look back, someone may be gaining on you”.

Showing a little love. The other part of your comment. There’s a saying, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. And I think of my father. He was a foot doctor. I assume technically he was a good one but what made him successful was that his patience enjoyed talking because he would talk to them invariably about any topic which was of interest to them.

Frank: Yes, I heard a story the other day. Someone called Mike Milbury. He used to be the general manager for the islanders. Someone said that he would call seasoned ticked holders, you know, a couple each week just to say thank you. You know if your on the other side of that phone call its like “thank you so much”.

Michael F. Andrew: Its an amazing thing isn’t it. That epitomizes “good job Mike Milbury”. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Frank: Well mike, all the best with the new book and have a happy new years as well. The book once again is called “How to think like a CEO and like a leader”. Mike Andrew thanks again.

This short video gives an idea of what it takes to be a leader. The video stresses that it is only the relatively few that possess leadership skills in all areas needed to be a CEO.

They are usually highly motivated, high achievers who are passionate about their job. They are also able to control their egos and allow others to contribute to the company without micromanaging others.

Transcript of the video below:
I would characterize myself as being sort of the accidental CEO. I started my company but really I don’t think in a small company when your pretty much the whole company to start with you’re really much of a CEO. You sort of grow into it.

When my company passed a certain size we eventually had 50 full time employees and another 200 hourly part time employees. It was a big job. Best really when you have to develop your CEO skills. I would characterize myself as being sort of an accidental CEO.

I didn’t know when I started that one of the things I tried to do over and over again was using the skills of a professor and I expected my company to be sort of collegial and would make decisions together. That’s not how it works. The CEO’s role is to make the decisions with the council and with the input of other people. So you really learn on the job, you learn as you go.

Well I needed a job and if you’ve been a college professor your not very good at working for other people. So I think that’s probably the principle reason why I did it. I’m not a terrific employee and I eventually learned how to be a successful CEO.

Well it’s interesting, in large companies you can think of it as being a career path where you start with the company and move up and then once you get to that level you move from company to company where the opportunities open up. There’s really not a career path for the CEO. It really is a long gruelling sort of race and only the relatively few who have all the skills it takes to do it, ultimately get the job or keep it.

Its sort of a combination of people who have great will and personal passion and are high achievers but also are able to control their own egos and recognise that once you become a CEO your really working through everybody else. It’s not what you do its what other people are willing to do for you and for the firm.

If you’re planning a CEO career there are questions you should ask during the recruitment process and interview. In this video Prof Joseph Bower outlines ways of developing your leadership skills prior to a career as a CEO and the questions you should ask during an interview.

Joseph L. Bower is Professor of Business Administration, has been a leader in general management at Harvard Business School. An expert on corporate strategy, organization, and leadership, he has devoted much of his teaching and research to challenges confronting corporate leaders in today’s rapidly changing hyper-competitive conditions.

Here is the interview with Marshal Goldsmith entitled ‘Developing the CEO Within You’”.

Transcript of the interview below:

Paul: Hello Im Paul Michelman director of content for Harvard business digital and our guest today is Joseph Bower, Professor of Business administration at Harvard business school and author of “The CEO Within: Why Inside Outsiders Are The Key to Succession Planning”. Joes thanks for joining the prgroam.
Joseph: Paul, my Pleasure

Paul: Ok, our mission for today is to help aspiring leaders to prepare themselves to be strong CEO candidates in the future but before we dive into the specifics can you explain to us what an inside outsider is.

Joseph Bower: Sure, an inside outsider is a manager that has grown up inside the company. Developed there but somehow or other hasn’t drunk the cool aid. Has retained objectivity, has perspective on what’s happening in the world and can understand the need for change in the company.

Paul: Ok, Thanks. You know in your Harvard business review adaptation of your book how important it is for aspiring leaders to take responsibility for their own development from the very start of their careers. So to help guide that process you’ve developed a series of questions for individuals to ask themselves to make sure they are on the road to the corner office.

So lets begin with those questions you suggest leaders ask during the recruitment process. For instance an obvious starting question why are you being hired?

Joseph Bower: Right, you want to ask, you want to get a good understanding of why this company is hiring you. Obviously they want you to do some work in the short time but is this a company that hires people to develop and grow over time. Is there a career path, are there career paths. Or are you basically cannon folder to do the job this year and we’ll see what happens.

Paul: How do you get at the answer to that question? You should overtly ask the employer. Should you be asking other people?

Joseph Bower: Well there are a lot of other questions you can ask. How are they going to help you grow? What pattern of assignments are you going to get? Are you going to have time to learn. Is this a place where you will be running all the time and Do do do do do. What kind of support are they going to provide you. Are they people that are actually going to help you. There are companies that will talk about this. Others this will be the first time they heard of these questions. That’s revealing.

What kind of training do they provide? When your getting out of school last thing you want to think about is going back to school but the truth of the matter is continuing education is a great thing. Does the company support it?

Really important if your goal is to run a business how early can you run the business. Is this a company that’s organized so that there are lots of pieces of the business that are small and you can get a chance to try your wings or is this a place your going to be doing analysis all your life. The first is what your looking for. A place with lots of businesses to run.

Paul: So Joe, how specific an answer can you reasonably expect to that question.

Joseph Bower: Some companies would organise their pitch around those type of questions I have just asked. Some companies have really thought about that.

So the next phase now that your on the job you’ve developed another series of questions to help shepherd your development further. The first sounds like an obvious one. Do you meet your numbers? At the end of the day its great to talk about growth and development but you’ve got to perform. You cant get into the game without developing a reputation for meeting your commitments. So that’s very important. But there are other kinds of things. If you’re a person who is early recognized as someone who helps others. Do you develop other people. Is working with you a step up for them. Well that is a huge thing in your own reputation. How do you get on with your peers? Are you so competitive that they don’t trust you or are you someone that they really welcome. That’s a big deal.

How do you manage up? One of the most interesting things is we think about bosses are people who are going to help us. That usually means when your boss sees you coming they are going to say, oh here comes a problem. They are going to ask for something. Think about what a difference it makes if you can actually help your boss. So managing up is a big issue and how your going to help the organization. That also means learning about what it means to manage at higher levels of the organization. Finally I would say are you transparent. Or are you someone that gets a reputation for spinning what they do. Basically if your going to be a leader you probably want to get a reputation for being pretty straight.

Paul: Does that mean being brutally honest. Can’t you still tell a good story to talk up what your doing or what your team is doing.

Joseph Bower: Yes but what I think managers really respect is someone who will get right to the point and if there is a problem say that you’ve screwed. This didn’t work out. Here’s what we are going to do about it, not some tap-dance.

Paul: Ok, The next phase of the questions focus on developing yourself. One question I thought was particularly poignant is are you developing a network that expands outside of your own division.. Its really interesting that most managers when their developing focus on the people right around them and they literally don’t get outside of their own organization. The more you get out the better. Outside the division, outside the company.

Its interesting some people choose to get to know their customers. Get to know their vendors. You can even talk to union people, my God, and you might learn something. So those kinds of things. Do you know people in the community who aren’t in your business. May not even be in business. Their in other parts of society. Its interesting how much you can learn when you work for the community or when you work for the red cross or when you work for a local school or any of those things you meet other kinds of people and guess what that’s how you begin to develop a view of what’s going on in the world other then the received wisdom inside the company.

Paul: So these are all hedges against company think

Joseph Bower: right yes, its also a way of developing yourself. Those organisations outside, non profit organizations will usually give you responsibility earlier then you get it at your own company.

Paul: That’s interesting. Were not just talking about civic good, were not just talking about being in the community. We’re really talking about management development.

Joseph Bower: Yes developing yourself as someone who can contribute, who can lead.

Paul: Ok, final phase of the questions leaders should ask themselves. Focus on leading a balanced life

Joseph Bower: Well, I mean I have to tell you when I worked with middle managers. People running particularly significant pieces of the business one of the questions they always ask is how do I do all of this and take care of my family. You’ve got to take care of your family. Who are the people that are going to stick by you during difficult times. Who is your mirror who is going to tell you the truth. The higher you go the more you are going to hear what you want to hear, not what will really help you. It takes a lot of management of the calendar. One of my favourite friends starts the year by putting on the religious holidays, then the birthdays for the children and so on. Its surprising how much he can do even though he’s leading a whole different set of obligations.

Paul: Great advice, thank you very much for joining us today.

Joseph Bower: Your very welcome, thank you.