6 Key Characteristics of the Best Startup CEOs

Ever dreamt of becoming a CEO? In today’s time, it’s easy to call and claim yourself one – it only takes a few minutes to change your status on your social media and within a glance, you are a CEO. But what separates self-proclaimed CEOs to that individual who builds their own brands and companies?

First, you have to equip yourself with the following characteristics of a powerful and successful CEO. Such characteristics include resilience, people sensibility, humility, risk-taking, vision, and passion. But what makes these characteristics key important?

1. Resilience

Being resilient means having the ability to adapt to changes and plans, while being able to bounce back whenever things do not go the way you planned them. As a startup company, it is important to know that things don’t always go the way you envisioned them because every new business will oftentimes encounter mistakes, and having the right mindset to adapt to these changes is vital to having a successful business and being a great CEO.

This also means having the ability to start from scratch whenever the first plan is impossible to pursue. After all, a startup business starts from a dream: and just like dreams, they are not the same every night. Furthermore, successful CEOs always find solutions to dig deeper and figure out ways, even when something never seems to work the way they originally planned them.

2. People sensibility

Sometimes, startups become successful when you equate quality products with you top notch employees. CEOs are responsible for hiring his or her own staff: they are the ones determining the number of each team to produce the product they believe in. In line with this, CEOs must tell whether they hired qualified employees or not.

• CEOs must know when to hire the right candidates
• CEOs must know when to fire the unqualified candidates
• CEOs must understand that startups are not just building a company, it is also building a culture
• CEOs know when to listen and when to take necessary and justified actions

Therefore, CEOs must overlook top talent who will play their role in making your startup company and successful and long-lasting one. Not to worry, there are fresh graduates annually who are excited and ready to take on a new journey in the professional world.

3. Humility

Just like patience, humility is also an important virtue every individual must possess. As leaders, you want to be confident in your product while at the same time show humility. Staying humble will take you to a long road and bright future. This quality is important because being humble equates to being open to improvements.

As a startup company, you must be aware that everything started from the ground until you work your way up.

• You must be open to feedback
• You must be able to give credit to those who deserve them
• You must be able to adjust
• You must know that there is no “I” in team
• You must be able to come up with solutions
• You must be able to connect with your employees
• You must be able to come up with great, fun, and engaging ideas

This also means having the intellectual humility and be smart about your calls, judgments, and decisions.

4. Risk taking

Some of the most successful CEOs are known to be risk takers. Business moguls such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Alexander Wang did not build their careers in their respective fields by just sitting and making an idea. They took a risk and built world-renowned brands. Same applies to the best websites who have proven to have an impact on today’s generation such as Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook. And even though, these brands did not happen overnight, they pushed themselves while considering the ups and downs of creating a successful business. CEOs who are risk takers must be:

• Unyielding to hurdles and struggles
• Must be positive
• Must be focused on their plans
• Must know how to listen to people who are there to help such as your colleagues
• Must execute plans properly
• Must persevere

If you share the same characteristic, you will be able to overlook and focus on your short term and long term goals for the longevity of you Startup Company.

5. Vision

Every company starts with a vision you created anywhere, even in the most random places. That said vision becomes your starting point until you finally have the courage to make that vision a reality. After all, successful people are big dreamers. Making that vision an actual product is as easy as getting out of your comfort zone and actually finding ways to do it.

• Create short term goals
• Create long term goals
• Formulate a roadmap to achieve the goals
• Share your brand to people
• Be memorable

CEOs that are proven to be successful have clear visions: they are able to see what works and find ways to turn stone to profit.

6. Passion

Though it is easier to build a startup company compare to previous times, believing in your product is still an essential factor to have a long and lasting impact in the world of entrepreneurship. And this is where passion comes to play: in order to believe in your product, you must be passionate about making sure your product will have relevance in the world.

For example, there are a lot of brands in the world who almost have the same product who lasts for a long time. You actually have to ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I believe in this product?
• Am I passionate about my product?
• Do I have the courage to gamble and find ways and opportunities to sell this product to the competitive market?
• Do I have the patience to wait until the time is right for this product to sell in the market?

These questions will help you determine whether you are really passionate about your business, and that’s what makes a successful CEO: staying humble and knowing how to answer tough questions.

Building a startup company frequently comes with challenges and obstacles, but with the right mindset and positively passionate attitude, you can actually make a mark in the world through your product. For example, top sites such as Twitter, Tumblr, and others are the product of passionate CEOs who believed in their products. If they can, you also can!

Now that you are equipped with the six key characteristics of the best startup CEOs, it is now your job to absorb these qualities and become a successful CEO. However, along with these qualities, some important traits every successful must have is to believe in their product and vision.

Meanwhile, every successful CEO knows how to share their product with people and hire the right employees who will help you in creating the product. Moreover, successful CEOs must also possess the qualities of resiliency, people sensibility, and humility. They should also have the courage to become risk takers, visionaries, and passionate leaders.

Lastly, apart from these six characteristics, successful CEOs also have different qualities such as determination, drive, courage, confidence, and positive attitude towards themselves because every good product starts with believing in your strengths and capabilities.

About the Author: Janet Anthony is a blogger from Kansas City who has been writing professionally for five years now. Her motto is “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows”. Connect with Janet via Facebook

• Tags:
• CEO
• Entrepreneur
• Startup

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