WHAT IS A CEO?
DEFINITION OF A CEO
A CEO, also known as the Chief Executive Officer is an individual with the top-most rank in an organization or a company.
Other titles associated with this role are president, managing director, and chief executive.
ROLES OF THE CEO
The CEO has the responsibility of:
– Overseeing the overall success of the organization or business entity
– Making top-level managerial decisions.
– Gathering information and analysis before taking up major decisions, as long as they have the ultimate authority when making the final decision.
The CEO is accountable to the board of directors concerning the performance of an organization. The Board consists of individuals selected to represent shareholders of a certain company. Mostly, the CEO assumes the role of the chairperson whenever there is a meeting.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CEO AND CHAIRPERSON
In most cases, you won’t miss noticing that the position of the Chairperson of the Board and the CEO are held by one person. Even if some companies and organizations won’t stop a similar scenario from happening, it can cause issues like conflicts of interest.
Great corporate governance sets apart the duties of a Chairperson of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer. You will discover that in some countries like the UK, the law forbids the roles of these two people to be taken by the same person.
MAJOR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Depending on the organization, roles, and responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer varies; the size of the company and the organizational structure have a bearing on their roles too.
BRING VISION AND DIRECTIONS
As much as the overall success of an organization lies in the hands of the Chief Executive Officer, they are also responsible for taking the lead in the creation and seeing through all long-term strategies to boost shareholder value. Here are examples of how leaders build their vision.
DAILY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CEO
There are no exact roles and responsibilities of a Chief Executive Officer; some of the typical duties and the job description include the following:
• Make sure the company keeps its high social responsibility every time it conducts business
• Come up with the company’s vision and mission statements and following them through to their implementation.
• Communicate with government entities, the shareholders, and members of the public on behalf of the company. He must be able to speak in public and captivate an audience. You can learn here how to destroy anxiety of public speaking.
• Lead in the development of both short-term and long-term goals of the company.
• Analyze the work done by other executive members within the company like the vice presidents, directors, and presidents,
• Assess all the risks the company faces and come up with mitigations to monitor and keep them low.
• Establishing strategic goals and ensuring they are describable and attainable.
• Motivate and inspire the people working in the company, by being a present charismatic leader (learn here how to become one).
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ROLE CAN VARY BASED ON COMPANY
It is quite common in smaller organizations for the CEO to take on a more “hands-on” role like making business decisions on a lower level; hiring staff is an example of such business decisions.
For larger companies, the CEO deals with only high level and major company decisions like corporate strategies. Managers and other departmental heads can be assigned tasks by the CEO.
CREATING A BUSINESS NETWORK
Another vital duty for a CEO to take on is creating a business network.
Creating a vast network includes connecting with reputable vendors, attending relevant industry events, discovering potential acquisition opportunities, initiating local meetup groups, sharing challenges with mentors and fellow peers. Most importantly, relationships form the foundation of any business venture; the ability to exchange and share several ideas is so invaluable.
There is a high probability that an organization’s next wave of growth will arise from numerous breakthroughs that the CEO initiates through relationships.
For any CEO, growth of his or her expertise is paramount but it might not compare to notable progress the leader makes by developing strategic connections.