What Are the Most Desirable Skills for C-Suite Executives?
Most companies are led by top-tier executives with “chief” in their titles. The most well-known C-suite executive is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), although other positions fall into this level, including Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Security Officer (CSO), Chief Data Officer (CDO), and Chief Human Resources Manager (CHRM).
“C-suite” or “C-level” are widely used terms that describe an organization’s senior executives. C-level personnel are responsible for ensuring an organization’s employees, operations, and strategies align with its mission and policies. Common responsibilities for C-suite leaders include creating and implementing long-term organizational strategies, motivating employees, developing short term plans to meet overall organizational or department goals, and analyzing key metrics to inform potential strategy changes.
Research shows that, in terms of profitability, businesses with highly effective C-suite leadership outperform their rivals by almost 20 percent. Accessing the right talent to fill C-suite roles is fundamental to business success and growth. Nevertheless, approximately 60 percent of organizations currently face leadership gaps that threaten their long-term performance. To ensure survival and growth, meticulously selecting and supporting C-suite talent is vital.
In this article, we provide an overview of the most important C-suite skills in 2024 and beyond.
1. People Management
In addition to building functional teams, the C-suite executive’s role involves cultivating a collaborative workplace by instilling a sense of community and cohesion. In addition to recognizing the professional capabilities of individual team members, executives need a solid grasp of coworkers’ aspirations and challenges on a personal level. C-suite leaders need to be adept at delegating tasks to subordinates that align with their talents and roles while simultaneously ensuring that teams remain engaged and motivated to maintain overall performance.
2. Organizational Focus
Exceptional strategic thinking is a must-have for all C-suite roles. Leadership positions demand an ability to always prioritize the needs of the business, placing a greater onus on the success of the organization than the executive’s own career goals. Seasoned business leaders recognize the need to put key business objectives front and center, seizing opportunities to challenge others and charter a new course while remaining mindful of the bigger picture.
3. Financial Management
Effective leadership requires an in-depth understanding of financial intricacies. Armed with financial insights, leaders can make strategic decisions that align with organizational goals.
C-suite leaders optimize resources, manage budgets, and ensure the organization’s financial stability, steering the business towards long-term sustainability, success, and growth. Advanced financial management skills are required for a variety of C-suite roles — CFO, CEO, and CMO especially.
4. Resilience
Resilience is a necessity for every hire, particularly in the C-suite. Resilient business leaders view failures and setbacks as the world’s classroom, demonstrating patience and persistence even in the face of significant stumbling blocks that emerge along the way.
For C-suite executives, the ability to show agility and absorb complex change is key, with studies revealing a correlation between emotionally intelligent leadership and enhanced employee engagement, improved client satisfaction, and increased profitability.
5. Empathy
Forward-looking business leaders are empathetic to the individual situation of each team member. In addition to communicating with others, building and overseeing teams, identifying and solving problems, and facilitating idea exchange, great leaders spend time getting to know the people they work with, learning what matters to and what motivates them.
C-suite roles demand significant social dexterity, helping executives to build rapport with team members and learn what challenges they need to overcome. Great leaders are emotionally intelligent, adept at managing their own emotions and understanding the emotions of people around them, effectively managing relationships by practicing self- and social awareness.
6. Employee Development
Effective leadership requires a joined-up approach. In addition to practicing self-awareness, identifying their own weaknesses, and taking action to remedy shortfalls, great leaders also invest in the professional development and advancement of their team members.
When leaders identify opportunities for growth, they need to consider how those opportunities might benefit individual team members. Ensuring that teams comprise individuals with diverse perspectives and strengths is crucial. It is also important for C-suite executives to support individual team members, helping them to showcase their strengths and improve on weaknesses.
7. Effective Crisis Management
In recent years, a succession of crises has shown how rapidly markets can change. Brexit, the pandemic, and socio-political tensions have highlighted the need for forward-looking companies to formulate effective crisis management strategies. To navigate such colossal upheavals, companies must ensure that their teams are motivated and engaged.
With employee expectations higher than ever been, particularly in terms of the level of sensitivity expected from leadership around their values, aspirations, feelings and overall wellbeing, leadership styles have been forced to adapt, with leaders spending more time interacting with others, and honing those all-important social skills.
