Blogs
School of Hard Knocks
Sam Cece Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
October 31, 2008
Getting to the Top
Part I
I was flattered to be invited to join a panel discussion for the Stanford Graduate School of Business entitled “Getting to the Top.” I was one of four CEO panelists, fielding questions about leadership, management, career paths and a number of leadership topics.
I was looking forward to this panel for two reasons: First, I was interested in hearing how other CEO panelists would answer the questions and compare them to my experiences and, secondly, I wanted to hear what the Stanford GSB students were thinking about when it came to management and leadership.
After a brief review of our respective backgrounds, moderator Kathy Ullrich kicked-off the discussion with the following question: “What are the most important skills that a CEO needs?” I answered that first and foremost, the ability to assemble a highly skilled and talented, functional team was the key to success. The ability to recruit, assemble, build and coach a world-class executive team were important skills to develop. [I am fortunate enough to have a strong management team of which several members could easily be CEO’s of their own companies. This matters when you’re trying to build new markets and make something from nothing].
Ms. Ullrich then asked me to lead off and answer the following question: “What leadership/management skills has/have been most useful to you to help you move up?” I responded that from a leadership perspective, the ability to remove the fear of self-preservation was important. When a leader makes decisions to ensure his/her survival, then they aren't taking the necessary risks that are required to build a company. From a management perspective, I believe that the ability to set clear direction and goals, as well as instilling a fierce sense of urgency to meet those goals is paramount. Transparent Communications, Presence (to really be there when you’re meeting and listening, not playing with your Blackberry and ignoring cell phone calls during that time) and Coaching are all skills that have helped me along the way.
I will post another entry (or two) with some of the other questions from both the panel and the audience in the coming week.
But now, I have little kids knocking on my door asking for candy--Trick or Treat!
Posted by: Sam Cece at 3:28 PM
Categories: Business , Experience , Lessons
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Getting to the Top.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.strongmail.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/124
Leave a comment