Leadership Kamran on 21 Nov 2007 07:16 am
Tough CEOs Might be Better for Business
Once upon a time all CEOs were tough task-masters. Bluntly put, they were expected to be more respected and feared than loved.
Then gradually the paradigm of executive leadership shifted to one in which the CEOs were expected to be affable team builders, and friendly “co-expediters”.
Business schools started to warm up to the general view that a “gentler and kindler” CEO accomplished more than her driven, goal-obsessed, performance-crazy counterpart.
The validity of this “soft skills paradigm” has not been questioned for at least two decades.
All that may be changing now, if a new study by three University of Chicago Business School professors is to be taken as the new gospel of CEO performance.
Prof. Steven Kaplan and his colleagues have shown that hard-charging bosses may actually do more good for the health of their businesses than bosses who emphasize “team work” over “performance” and “enthusiasm” over “profits.”
Here are the five CEO traits that correlated with business success at the Kaplan study and five that didn’t.
CEO traits that matter for business sucess…
> Persistence
> Attention to detail
> Efficiency
> Analytical skills
> Setting high standards
… And those that don’t:
> Strong oral communication
> Teamwork
> Flexibility/adaptability
> Enthusiasm
> Listening skills
(Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nov 19, 2007)