Becoming a more effective leader was the emphasis of the Dallas CEO group chaired by Jay Holstine.  “New research, insights and expert analyses of success factors were the center of discussion at our CEO workshop.  Turnover is costly. You don’t want your company to be the 1 out of 3 companies having to replace a leader, and suffer shareholder market loss.  It’s imperative to know the leader traits that create success and lead to the best performance in the CEO role,” said Jay Holstine.   

 

“Leading business and economic schools’ research reveal that the stereotype of the strong, confident, out-going, white, male candidate is not the best target, despite the historic trends of these inclinations. For one example, introverts are actually more likely to surpass hiring expectations.   

Education pedigree was another surprise:  there was no correlation of an education from an elite school resulting in a superior performance: few of the actual top performers had ivy-league-educations, and some of the high-level performers did not even graduate from college,” Holstine mentioned. 

“The best news is that there are some valuable essential traits and success factors that boards can target in selecting the best leader,” Holstine added.  

 

“You don’t always have all the information you need, in typical business decision-making scenarios, but high-performing CEOs still make decisions earlier, quicker, and with conviction,” Holstine shared.  “One of our members said that the pursuit of the perfection often gets in the way of important action,” Holstine said. 

“The question to ask is if this waiting for new or remaining information outweighs the potential damage of delay.   Basically, not making a decision is simply decision-by-default,” Holstine added. 

“While most decisions can be undone if necessary, lack of direction, and lack of confidence can weigh a company down,” Holstine said. 

“Interestingly, among leaders who were let go because of decision making, the vast majority of reason was for indecisiveness, rather than for making a bad call,”  Holstine added. 

“Successful CEOs are not averse to conflict.  They garner internal support by instilling confidence that they will lead the team to success, even if that entails contention. The avid leader understands that business is not without some disagreements, and they are comfortable dealing with conflict.  They listen, and give those involved a voice, but not necessarily a vote.  While consensus can good, it can turn into the lowest common denominator.  Strong CEOs are not spending their time counting votes and worrying about being popular. 

“One of the most critical skills is getting everyone on board. Our CEO group agreed that strong performers have an intuition for the priorities and needs of their stakeholders, as well as the needs of potential detractors,” Holstine said.  “They address those concerns, and illustrate the value of the program, so that they can bring potential detractors back into the project.  The best leaders are able to win over detractors by highlighting their importance to the process,” Holstine shared. 

“The best leaders monitor and finetune their demeanor and body language. They are aware of the unintended communication of expressions, posture, or gestures that might contradict their intentions.  They understand that calm composure is essential in good leadership,” Holstine said. 

“Pragmatism is critical to success.  Our CEO membership knows that business environments can change on a dime,” Holstine said. “Everyone agreed that looking out for the unforeseen challenges, is critical to success,” Holstine said.   “Adapting quickly to new challenges is also important.  We found that the best CEOs are always seeking out fresh information from a variety of networks and different sources.  They are looking for trends and signs of potential change, in order to take advantage of new opportunities,” Holstine shared. 

“Our group acknowledges that temporary setbacks are a part of changing course.  High performers see missteps as opportunities to learn and grow.  It’s not failure if you realize a setback as part of growth and learning, and adjust your approach to accomplish it next time,” Holstine said.   

“Adaptability and growth are key factors of success, but research and our members agree that boards want a CEO who knows how to run a business well.  The proven, predictable performer, delivering steady results, with reliable follow-through, is more valuable to the company’s long term viability than a rockstar leader with some exciting ideas and erratic actions,” Holstine said. 

“Great leaders also thrive on organization, strategic planning, and team building.  Successful new CEOs set realistic expectations by digesting plans, budgets, and understanding markets and customers and employees.   Upgrading talent and getting the right team in place quickly is critical to a new CEO’s success,” Holstine added. 

“Our workshop concluded with the concept that leadership success is not based on inborn traits or high pedigrees of education. The most successful CEOs are those who are more versatile, diverse, open-minded, growth oriented, and confident.  They are smart communicators, and very adept at engaging stakeholders and winning over detractors.  They know how to handle conflict.  They’re decisive, they know how to run a company, and they enjoy leading,” Holstine said. 

Building and empowering a high-achieving CEO Peer group that produces more effective leaders is Jay Holstine’s passion. Jay manages the CEO Peer group issue resolution sessions that surface root causes, pooled perspectives and shared wisdom.