“Companies are increasingly seeking socially adept leaders—not charismatic smooth-talkers, but executives who listen empathetically, welcome input, and rally the workforce around a common goal…”
Jay Fitzgerald of Working Knowledge
What Traits Are Companies Looking For When Considering New CEO’s?
- actively listen to others
- empathize genuinely with others’ experiences
- persuade people to work toward a common goal
- and communicate clearly
“Top executives who demonstrate this kind of interpersonal prowess are more likely to be in high demand, particularly at large, multinational, and information-intensive organizations, the research suggests. Those companies see social skills in the C-suite as more important than more traditional operational and administrative abilities, such as monitoring the allocation of financial resources.”
Jay Fitzgerald of Working Knowledge
“Sadun and Fuller, along with co-authors Stephen Hansen of the Imperial College Business School in London, and Tejas Ramdas of Cornell University, analyzed 4,622 searches for top executives conducted by 3,794 executive-search firms between 2000 and 2017. About 43 percent of the searches were for CEOs, 36 percent were for CFOs, and the rest were for other top management positions.”
Jay Fitzgerald of Working Knowledge
Research Suggests: Managers at all Levels Need Social Skills
To further read the findings of Professor of Management Practice, Jospeh B Fuller and Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration, Raffaella Sadun, click on their links below
“While corporations still require top executive candidates to possess “concrete” skills, such as financial expertise, administrative and operational experience, and technical knowledge, the demand for these skills has remained static or has declined in recent years. In contrast, demand for social skills has jumped significantly, the study results show.”
Jay Fitzgerald of Working Knowledge
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