The 10 Best Performing CEOs, 2020.

 “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” - Ayn Rand

In the business world, the appropriate use of inspiration and experience often leads to success and wisdom. On the other hand, ill-informed decisions, miscommunication, and the inability to motivate your team to take the right steps are often attributed as the leading reasons why CEOs and business leaders fail.

A world where a badly sated tweet from political leaders can incite panic and fears of military action is where we are living today. And there are many other leadership decisions that do not make the headlines but come at a huge cost, nonetheless. The importance of good leadership is more vital now than ever and something that cannot be overstated.

What makes a good leader?

The mark of success for any entrepreneur is when his/her innovation starts adding value to the lives of the users. But getting to that stage takes crossing a lot of hurdles and making a lot of sacrifices.

The ongoing pandemic threw a wrench amid the cycles of many of the well-established businesses forcing countless companies to shut down. Those who survived must outmaneuver this uncertainty by course-correcting, again and again as circumstances change.

In such turbulent times, the CEOs must reassess assumptions, re-evaluate scenarios, and strengthen their ability to sense and respond. They must keep up with the current trends and technologies of their sector and have a keen sense of adopting new modules and ideas to their palate, to better serve the interests of the company.

In short, a CEO must have their finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist.

He must adapt proactively; It is dealing with situations that are not in the playbook. As a CEO you are constantly faced with situations where a playbook simply cannot exist. You better be ready to adapt.

Although the title of CEO implies ‘everyone’s boss’, having too many stereotypical boss-like attributes can only be a detriment. But to ensure a healthy work environment, the CEO must take active participation in the tasks assigned to its subordinates and lead by example.

Leaders should expect a two-way flow of ideas, allowing their subordinates to contribute meaningfully, encouraging their ideas, and thus encouraging their best selves.

In addition, leaders must also have a sense of the team’s shortcomings and requirements.

Leaders cannot just remain quiet when disagreements arise between team members, says emotional intelligence expert Daniel Goleman.

Responsible adults must abide by a personal moral code, otherwise they run the risk of compromising their key values, sacrificing their individuality, and falling for traps, which they often set for themselves. A CEO is no exception.

CEOs should keep a high level of integrity in their daily dealings, not make promises that they may not be able to uphold, and most importantly, establish an ethical code of conduct for their team to follow and inspire towards. This simple strategy promotes trust among teammates and blocks any situation where the integrity and determination of the company might be questioned.

A CEO is someone, who is not only the executive authority to his team but also the person that represents the company in the business outlook. He/she is the one who interacts with business outsiders and with insiders to make decisions in favor of his company.

Hence, it is very important for the leader to maintain a good public persona to ensure the best interests of the company as well as that of the team. As a CEO, the ability to reliably produce results is possibly the most essential of CEO behaviors. There are many other qualities that one can add to their arsenal but showing up short on any of the points mentioned above is sure to hamper the business model, if not disrupt it entirely.

Some other key qualities that are worth mentioning are:

Deciding with speed and conviction - “good leaders know that a wrong decision may be better than no decision at all.”

Engaging with shareholders with impact – Strong business performers balance keen insight into their stakeholders’ priorities with an unrelenting focus on delivering business results.

In this edition of The BusinessBerg – ‘The10 Best Performing CEOs in 2020’, we attempt at cracking the formula of what makes a great CEO, by dissecting the moves and decisions of some of the top players in their game called business.

Source: https://thebusinessberg.com/the-10-best-performing-ceos-2020-november2020/.