What makes an executive successful?

What are common characteristics of executives? What constitutes their most effective personality characteristic?

Businessmen know there is no “proven formula” when it comes to the makeup of the business executive, manager or supervisor. And having been in business myself prior to becoming a psychologist, I have had the opportunity to see the working world from more than one perspective.

I continue to be interested in the overlap between psychology and business with today’s rapidly changing business climate providing many opportunities for me to apply some of the principles of my profession to the world of business.

Behavioral scientists have defined certain personality characteristics and types of thinking patterns that seem to be useful and effective in business situations. Most managers who run into difficulties in their careers do so not because of a lack of intelligence or motivation, but because they have failed to utilize certain psychological characteristics.

Recently, I spoke on that subject to a group of business executives and we had a lengthy discussion afterward. I agree with these examples, both as a psychologist and as a business manager.

• Effective managers tend to plan and seek solutions for situations that lie in the future, rather than simply reacting to the present situation. They are able to think ahead weeks, months and even years, laying the groundwork now for thinks they anticipate.

Research has shown that many, if not most, non-managers think of today and maybe tomorrow, but usually do not plan for ahead. Effective managers are often described as “visionaries” and have no trouble being future-oriented. They are pro-active, rather than re-active.

• Effective managers are able to sort out the relevant from the irrelevant, shift in their thought processes and see things differently. They view matters from several perspective, are flexible and not rigid.

• Reasonable risk-taking is often a characteristic of an effective manager. T he entrepreneur can be a great asset to an organization interested in dynamic growth, rather than static immobility.

• Effective managers have the ability to remember and extrapolate elements and solutions from past problems and apply them to present situations.

• They have the willingness and capability to modify approaches and procedures, always working toward solutions to problems as new information is gained. They have the ability to see a problem as a non-static entity rather than as a rigidly defined and non-changing group of parts.

• They have a sense of timing, sensing when to put certain elements of a plan into play.

• They have a sense of when to redefine a problem and perhaps cut their losses. They know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.

• One of the most important qualities of an effective executive is the high premium they place on follow-up and follow-through. They don’t leave things dangling.

There are many other excellent characteristics that executives may possess, but a combination of most of the above should make them a valuable asset to any organization.

Copyright c 1990 Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D.