Choose The Best CEO For Your Company

The Chief Executive Officer of any company is responsible for making sure the company is on track to reach its target and grow. The wrong CEO may be devastating and very public. If the board and the CEO don’t have a good rapport or are not on the same frequency can lead to potential catastrophe. The rough couple of months at Infosys, Apple when Steve Jobs was fired, HP without Meg Whitman are a few examples. Therefore it is really important for companies, startups in particular, to choose a CEO who fits the companies ideal, aims and ambitions perfectly.

Here are a few tips on how startups can hire a CEO who fits to a ‘t.’

Plan the criteria
Discuss, along with all the members of your board, what direction you want the company to take and what the new CEo will have to accomplish. If the board and the founders of the company themselves are confused, it becomes very difficult to find a level headed and experienced chief executive. Take into consideration the size of the company, if the potential candidates have worked with bigger companies or startups of the same size. Similarly, take the most important aspects of the company’s agenda into consideration to make the right choice.

Choose an insider
If possible, pick a CEO who has been with the company for a while. Multiple studies have shown that CEO chosen from inside the company have performed better than those chosen from outside the company. An insider tends to be more in tune with the workings of the company, already understands the route the company is taking and can work well with the employees.

Industry Experience
It’s not just enough to hand over the reigns of the company to an experienced executive. The chosen candidates also need to have the right kind of industry experience. One of the most important roles of a CEO is to own the vision of the company. If the candidate does not have a relative understanding of the industry, it will become difficult for them to understand the company’s vision and which can thereby delay or hamper any or all progress.

Conviction
While the previous points were about the characteristics to look at while looking for a CEO, this point speaks about the qualities a CEO should possess. Running a startup company is very hard work. If the executives don’t have the right conviction and courage, they will not be able to lead the company into the future. A CEO needs to have courage to take risks and the conviction to stick by these decisions during tough times.

History
Probably one of the most important aspects to keep in mind while hiring a CEO is their track record with other companies. Questions like what was that company’s turn over, how many products were launched successfully, where there any scandals during the tenure should have satisfactory answers to make a final decision.

Being the Chief Executive of a company is one of the hardest jobs in a company. So make sure that your next CEO meets all the prerequisites before hiring an executive.