My clients are tech executives or those looking to join the ranks. While not everyone aspires to become a CEO, I researched characteristics and admirable qualities as a benchmark.
Most Admired Fortune 500 CEO
Fortune Magazine conducts an annual survey amongst Fortune 500 CEOs. One of the questions is which Fortune 500 CEO—other than themselves—they most admire. Below are the April 2020 mentions occurring, coincidentally, just at the beginning of the pandemic.
- JPMorgan: Jamie Dimon 23%
- Walmart: Doug McMillon 16%
- Microsoft: Satya Nadella 7%
- Amazon: Jeff Bezos 7%
- More than 1 mention: Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, GE’s Larry Culp, Mastercard’s Ajay Banga, J&J’s Alex Gorsky, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett
Any surprises for you?
My husband is a fan of Jamie Dimon related to his business acumen in driving incremental revenue, especially during a pandemic. Further, my husband admires Jamie’s candid and forthright communication while taking ownership for failures. During an interview at Stanford Business Graduate School of Business, the moderator asked Jamie what leadership qualities he looks for in people in their 20s. Jamie remarked that young adults gain real leadership with experience. He appreciates three qualities in anyone of any age. First, he values subject matter experts since they are enhancing your life with information. For him, your character is a sine qua non, meaning a person who can tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and doesn’t shave the truth. Three, he gravitates toward people that relate well with others.
On the other hand, I admire Doug McMillon since I’ve financially benefited as a stockholder with a 30% annual return year-to-date. Plus, Walmart hired a remarkable amount of 400,000 people for a total of 2.45 million worldwide employees during the Covid crisis.
Characteristics
If you’re in a leadership position or desire to climb the corporate ladder, what things should you consider?
The 10-year CEO Genome Project of 2,600 leaders revealed four surprising results on CEO ascensions:
- Over 70% made the decision to become CEO after years in their career
- 45% of candidates had career blowups
- 8% didn’t graduate from college
- 7% didn’t attend Ivy League school
Within the same study, CEOs shared similar traits that anyone can master:
- Decisive
- Relentlessly reliable
- Adapt boldly
- Engage with stakeholders without shying away from conflict
Desirable Qualities Evolve
According to Sam Reese, CEO of Vistage, the world’s largest CEO coaching and peer advisory organization for small and midsize businesses, there’s been an evolution in CEO’s qualities and the way leaders think about their companies, employees, communities, and even themselves.
He mentions that leaders can change the conditions in 8 ways:
- Your purpose is fuel
- Drive the culture you believe in
- Bridge the generational divide
- Champion candor and transparency
- Embrace vulnerability as a strength
- Know the details of your business, but don’t get stuck in the weeds
- Challenge your perspective
- Make a decision
Action Items: 2-month countdown
It’s two months before your end of year performance evaluation. In the section for your 2021 goals, I strongly encourage you to focus on the leadership quality you want to enhance. If nothing above has tripped your trigger, derive something new. Talk to your mentor, lead team, or boss. Curious what you will figure out, so drop me a line.
If you aren’t in your dream job, now is the time to put tactics in place to make that happen.
Best to you.
