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Angelica Rains

CEO

What Sets the Best CEOs Apart from Others

By Leadership

As the leader in any organization, the Chief Executive Officer holds an exceptionally visible position of power and influence.

The CEO’s job includes setting the mission, visions, and goals, motivating the executive team, collaborating with stakeholders, representing the company and its values, and developing a solid work-life balance.

How does a board find someone who can execute these tasks flawlessly?

As it turns out, the board can’t because perfection doesn’t exist. It isn’t even preferable. Instead, hiring boards should consider these five characteristics.

  1. Education and Experience

Many boards tend to seek out leaders with degrees from prestigious universities. There is little correlation between the stamp on a sheepskin and the recipient’s ability to lead an organization.

What does matter, however, is the CEO’s willingness to learn and apply their knowledge and previous skills to help to make decisions.

  1. Personal Characteristics

Many people identify extroverts as the best CEOs because they are charismatic leaders. In reality, introverts perform better in this role, quickly meeting or exceeding their goals.

While confidence may land a candidate a CEO position, it does not affect job performance.

CEOs are willing to confront others when necessary. They don’t hide from challenges; they meet them head-on. Those who excel in their roles focus on meeting their goals – and winning.

  1. Best CEO Decision-Making Habits

CEOs who can strategize and make decisions quickly excel over those who do not. 

The reason is simple: executive-level leadership requires decisiveness. CEOs must make decisions confidently, even when there’s little time to respond to developing situations. Making a mistake is preferable to making no decision at all.

Those surrounding the CEO prefer consistent and immediate decision-making to uncertain delays.

  1. Getting Buy-In from Others

Those in the top position in a company seek feedback and gather diverse viewpoints. These viewpoints may shape the CEO’s decision, but the decision is based on facts rather than popular opinion.

Top CEOs prefer to hire people with the skills they may be lacking; these employees often become trusted advisors.

  1. Strategy-Building Skills

Not everyone can see the big picture, but that’s what the CEO does. This role requires eagle-eye acuity for envisioning how all the parts work together. Those who work with CEOs often describe them as:

  • proactive proponents of change for the right reasons
  • committed to thinking long-term
  • trustworthy individuals who follow-through
  • positive and predictable
  • makers of bold moves

Not everyone has the skills and mindset to be a CEO. To be the best at the top position in any company requires a unique set of characteristics. As it turns out, no one thing defines a successful CEO. The most successful, and ultimately the best CEOs, are a combination of everything.

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November 24, 2021
Corporate Woman

More Women Left Corporate Jobs During the Pandemic

By Leadership

The pandemic has completely transformed perspectives about work, especially for women. In the 18 months since COVID-19 appeared, more than half of working women are less optimistic about their job opportunities than they were before a novel virus took the world by storm.

For women in corporate jobs, the future appears even bleaker.

How the Pandemic Exacerbated Conditions

During the pandemic, many women who had corporate jobs reverted to traditional roles.

They found themselves in the position of being the caretaker for everyone around them. These women provided emotional support and encouragement for their employees on their teams.

During the lockdown periods, these same women were also the support system at home, assisting their children with virtual learning, checking on relatives, and holding the family together. Women traded their career aspirations and took on greater domestic responsibility.

As a result, the women burned out quickly.

Difficulties Women Face in Corporate Jobs

Landing a job in corporate America isn’t easy as a woman. It’s even more difficult as a woman of color or LGBTQIA.

Many corporate women have experienced the broken rung syndrome: making their way up the corporate ladder is nearly impossible because the first step in moving up is often disconnected. It’s so shattered that getting to the second rung is a tremendous hurdle.

Corporate roles require considerable face time when managing or leading teams of employees. During the pandemic, women:

  • experienced higher stress levels than men (74% compared to 61%)
  • burned out quicker than men in similar jobs
  • earned less than men for the same job
  • left the corporate workforce at a rate of 3:1 compared to their male counterparts

Women gave up the positions they worked for on the ladder. In doing so, they also may have given up their opportunity for further advancement.

Changing the Outcome

The good news is that the future doesn’t have to be bleak.

Companies can – and should – encourage women to return to their places in corporate positions. These five steps can help women step up over that first broken rung of the corporate ladder and on to richly satisfying careers.

  1. Offer greater flexibility 

Allow employees to take time off when needed. Some companies have experimented with unlimited paid leave. If that’s too big of a leap, try a smaller commitment of a few days at a time.

  1. Align accountability with financial incentives 

Too often, performance metrics don’t match up. Reward results rather than time spent in the building.

  1. Consider diversity when hiring 

More than numbers, diversity thrives when people of different backgrounds, races, and experiences work together.

  1. Eliminate bias and identify promotion trends

Make sure equitable performance reviews identify accomplishments and any need for professional growth accurately.

  1. Listen when women speak

Women in corporate jobs find that their ideas and contributions are often suppressed.

With your help, the women who shouldered the burden of the pandemic will be back, stronger and better equipped to lead companies forward.

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November 17, 2021
Woman CEO

More Women Running Fortune 500 Companies Now Than Ever

By Leadership

The climate change happening in the business world, albeit a slow progression, sees steady growth in acceptance of women running Fortune 500 companies. The companies that have taken the step to hire women CEOs have made interesting discoveries. Some women carry specific traits that help them not only land these top positions but thrive in them.

According to Fortune, women running Fortune 500 businesses in 2021 hit an all-time record high of 41, two of which are black women – another first.

Given women’s history in business, these records are worth celebrating, and Korn Ferry states that the celebration will continue with foundations like The Rockefeller Foundation starting initiatives like the “100×25” initiative. An initiative to hire 100 Fortune 500 women CEOs by 2025.

So what is it that helps women stand out as leaders that can profoundly change organizations for the better?

3 Traits Women Running Fortune 500 Companies All Possess

According to Forbes, McKinsey published research titled “Women Matter,” with proof of how differently women CEOs run things. The main finding suggests that women leaders implement at least five of the nine most important leadership behaviors to improve organizational performance, whereas men tend to lack in this area.

The five behaviors most commonly referred to by women include:

  • People Development: Teaching, mentoring, and listening to individual needs as a top priority.
  • Expectations and Rewards: Clearly defining expectations and rewarding when targets are met.
  • Role Model: Focusing on building respect and being a role model for the company.
  • Inspiration: Presenting a compelling vision of the future that inspires workers to implement the changes necessary to get there.
  • Participative Decision-Making: A team atmosphere where everyone is encouraged to participate in decision-making.

Aside from these behaviors, there are 3 personality traits that women CEOs possess as well:

  1. They are driven and committed to the success

It takes women an average of four more years than men to make it into leadership positions. During this time, women spend their careers in a number of different roles, companies, and industries. By the time they make it to the CEO, they are ready to commit to the company and apply their wealth of experience.

  1. They are devoted to positive workplace culture

In Korn Ferry’s study, 25% of women were proud of the positive culture they created in their companies. Women understand that for the company to succeed, it starts with the workers, and workplace culture is one of the main things that can make or break a company.

  1. Most have STEM or substantial financial backgrounds

Nearly 60% of all women in business have a definable background in STEM, business, finance, or economics, as posted by Korn Ferry. This type of knowledge serves as a catalyst for success, whether male or female.

Still, women know they have to work harder and prove themselves more than men do. This is a tide that is beginning to shift but still exists, nonetheless.

Women make it abundantly clear how beneficial it is to start from the bottom and climb your way to the top. Most women are forced to start in lower positions than men, but it only proves to help them succeed later on when finally promoted to CEO. Women continue to prove how resilient, courageous, and agile they are in business. They have the ability to revolutionize the modern-day workforce.

Every company that hires a woman CEO brings that reality into fruition.

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November 10, 2021
Empathetic Leaders

Consumer-Facing Companies Need Empathetic Leaders

By Leadership

There’s no question that Covid-19 forced fundamental changes to the way we run as a society. After nearly two years, some of these changes will likely be permanent. One fundamental change businesses are making is how they relate to their customers. Rather than customer engagement and convenience being the main focus, it’s now shifting to essential needs, like safety and security.

According to Forbes, displaying this level of acknowledgment to customers makes them feel like the company is concerned about them and looking for tangible solutions to their current problems. If this sort of empathy is to be extended to the customer, it first starts within.

How does a company become more empathetic as a whole? It starts with leadership. Empathetic leaders give the workers a role model for empathy that turns into an entire company exuding the emotion. 

Chief Experience Officers (CXO) Are the Empathetic Leaders You Need

Rather than the entire C-Suite focusing on finances and numbers, having someone in the room advocating for the customer at the turn of every major business decision is the best way to close the customer experience gap and keep it closed.

CXOs not only look at every step of the customer experience to ensure every touchpoint is dedicated to the customer’s needs, but they serve as that empathetic advocate for the rest of the company. They can effectively inspire the company to want to focus on the customer and each department delivering their “line of sight” in full dedication to the customer experience.

Allowing the CXO to inspire and mentor the company to deliver that customer-focused line of sight will build a genuine, empathetic framework that vibrates throughout the company. 

Different Ways Customer-Facing Companies Can Empathize During the Pandemic

Customers are humans first, who may have had trouble paying their bills and meeting necessities since the onset of the pandemic.

How does a business empathize with this while still making money?

Here are a few key ideas:

  • Rather than focusing on upselling, showcase how you can provide them with the essentials they need, including safety and security. Customers are likely to upsell on their own if you appeal to these needs.
  • Remain at the forefront of their hearts while implementing contactless business.
  • Rebranding certain products to tailor to customer needs.
  • Be a light in your customers’ day at a time when depression and anxiety are on the rise.
  • Focus on your web presence as this is the epicenter for customer experience right now.

There is something to be said for empathetic business. Empathy has always been a keynote in the customer experience but is now more than ever. Customers crave that security and trust in a brand. In order to create such a framework, empathy has to be encoded in the DNA of the company. Finding an empathetic leader that inspires the company to focus on empathy for the customer above all else is the core that will set you apart.

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November 3, 2021
C-Suite Skills

Necessary C-Suite Skills

By Leadership

Each position in a business organization requires some skills and technical expertise. The skills and knowledge you have determine how you can optimize the company’s resources to produce desired results.

When you work together with your business team, your skills determine how you complete the task assigned to you.

However, the most crucial role in any company, which requires maximum skills and a high standard of professionalism, is the C-suite position. As a unique position in any company, it requires having extraordinary skills to be successful in this role.

What are the skills you need to have as a C-suite official?

Good Leadership Skills

The over-arching set of skills necessary for a C-suite official is leadership skills. Some employees leave companies because of the poor leadership skills of their managers. Through strong leadership, you can manage and control your team to reach the company’s target.

As a C-suite official, your leadership traits open your eyes to how you can lead your team and motivate them to work towards the company goals and objectives.

Taking Responsibility 

As the higher executive official in a company, your leadership role comes with numerous responsibilities. Your position is one of the major forces that drive the company to success. Your responsibilities include setting reasonable standards for a company, making decisions, enforcing discipline, and ensuring that your team members work towards the company’s goals.

As a C-suite official and leader, you must be ready to fulfill these responsibilities and others assigned to you for your company’s success.

Delegation

A large organization with a C-suite executive is not a one-way business. You can’t be a master of all trades because of the demanding responsibilities of your position. Hence, learn the art of delegation.

When you delegate tasks, ensure that those given the job work with the schedules and oversee their work to know if they implement your instructions or policies.

Instructions must be well communicated when you are delegating tasks. Besides education, give deadlines so that they can learn how to be time conscious.

Above all, delegation does not mean you should offload all tasks on your employees. The benefit of commission is for efficiency and not offloading tasks.

Decision Making

As the top official, you need to know how to make good decisions. The decisions you make determine the level of success of your team.

Being the leader in an organization, you need to know how you can make quick decisions as a problem-solving strategy in protecting the image of the company or from running into a loss.

Communication Skills

Another C-suite skill is good communication skills because you are working with a team. As a leader, it’s part of your responsibilities to communicate the company goals and policies to the employees. Your communication skills should also include various measures of persuasion and motivation.

The C-suite position is an influential and challenging position in any company. If you imbibe the leadership skills and other essential skills in this article, you will be equipped with the abilities needed to succeed in the top C-level in your company.

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October 27, 2021
Leadership

4 Signs of a Self-starter

By Leadership

When you inquire about how some business organizations maintain their productivity levels, you may find that those organizations have C Suite officials who take proactive measures in completing the company’s projects. These people are self-starters.

Self-starters are usually people who show positive attitudes to work. They are filled with great energy when carrying out tasks. They are also enthusiastic, innovative, and have initiative. More often than not, they stand out in any organization because of their performance and productivity.

They are not hard to identify in an organization because they have the zeal to work and take the forefront in completing the company’s projects. Below we outline the signs and features of a self-starter.

They Have a Winning Mentality

A self-starter usually has a winning mentality. They believe they can complete tasks successfully, and they are always ready to take responsibility to achieve positive results. When they are faced with some challenges in the process, they develop new strategies and ways to combat the problems.

When no one knows how to carry out a complex project, a self-starter may likely be a problem solver. They may map out plans tailored towards tackling complex tasks.

They are Not Weakened by Failure

A self-starter sees failure as an opportunity to learn and correct mistakes. When Plan A fails, they switch to their fallback plan. A self-starter individual knows that failure is part of the journey to success.

They, therefore, worry less about failure because their target is a success. They are the people you can rely on if they are in your company’s C Suite role.

They are Naturally Motivated 

An organization succeeds when they have workers who are naturally motivated to work. A self-starter is a product of zeal and motivation. They also encourage other team members through their positive attitude to work.

Naturally, a self-starter loves what they do because of their innate motivation and passion. Through this, they have passion for the company’s vision, the same way the company owner might do.

They are Usually Leaders

Leadership requires some particular skills. Taking responsibility and completing it are some of these skills. A self-starter, through their maximum performance, assumes leadership positions in an organization.

There are numerous factors why they are usually regarded as leaders.

  • They are diligent about work.
  • They motivate and encourage team members in the completion of tasks (team-oriented).
  • They do not see failure as an escape route from responsibility.
  • They are problem solvers.
  • They are result-driven.

Above all, these signs above are an indication that a leadership position in a company lies beyond the three-letter words, e.g., CEO. It relies solely on how an individual shows great energy and enthusiasm to work; how they take an initial step in getting a task done successfully. Most importantly, it also impacts how you can boost the morale of your team members.

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October 20, 2021
Executive Interviewing

Executive Interview Tips To Help You Shine

By Interviews

Before preparing for an executive-level interview, it’s always a good idea to think about how it will be different from interviewing for an entry-level position. First, the questions will add another degree of difficulty because hiring managers determine your potential in the post.

Next, if you want to shine, you have to communicate your leadership skills, ability to implement change and cultural fit to the organization. Use these tips to prepare for job interviews.

Executive Interview Tip #1: Conduct Research

Some basic interviewing rules can still be applied, like dressing the part and researching the company. Competence and confidence are crucial to making a positive impression at these high-stake interviews. And the more research that you do in advance, the more confident and competent you will be.

Look at its website, press releases, and social media accounts to learn about its history, leaders, and other trends. Researching can also help you learn about the background of those people interviewing you and discover any standard connections that can help you stand out.

#2: Practice Difficult Questions

Since executive-level interview questions are more geared toward determining your ability to lead teams, preparing for some more challenging questions is essential. The odds are good that you will be asked some variation of these questions:

  • What is your leadership style?
  • How would you encourage an unmotivated team?
  • What is something that you would change about this company?
  • What is the most challenging part of being an executive?
  • What are some of your weaknesses?
  • How do you create and improve core competencies?
  • How do you conduct employee evaluations?
  • Why are you the strongest candidate for this position?

Create an engaging story and provide specific examples for each question highlighting your management style and strategic vision. This will help give the interviewer insight into your thought process, attitude and priorities.

#3: Ask Insightful Questions

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate your knowledge about an organization and interest in the job is by asking thoughtful questions. Don’t hesitate to ask why the position is available and how they measure success to confirm it’s a good match for you too. Then, inquire about the most significant issues that the organization is currently facing.

The key takeaway is that the hiring process will be more intense for highly compensated roles like these. Executive interview tips we listed here can aid you in overcoming potential challenges so you can show you are the most confident, competent candidate on the market.

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October 13, 2021
Recruitment Strategies

Recruitment Strategies to Get the Best Candidates for Your Organization

By Hiring Strategies

It takes a combination of creativity and diligence to win the war for talent. First, determine what the unique benefits of working for your organization are. Then use them as a selling point to potential employees.

Continue to leverage social media profiles for researching and evaluating the best candidates. Below are some valuable recruitment strategies to help you.

Treat Candidates Like Customers

The hiring process is about more than screening candidates. Potential employees also use this time to determine if you are a good fit for them. Since making a positive first impression is the key to winning and retaining customers, it can be a powerful hiring strategy too.

Be open-minded and realistic when it comes to creating job postings and interviewing candidates to reduce bias. Then, similar to how you would treat your customers, make them feel comfortable and respect their time. Remember, the best person for the job won’t always have the bells and whistles you’re looking for. It’s usually better when they can learn and grow into the role.

Use Social Media as a Recruitment Strategy

Social media is quickly becoming one of the most powerful recruitment tools out there. It’s also one of the most cost-effective ways to streamline the hiring process. A majority of organizations are investing more time and resources toward increasing their social media presence for multiple reasons:

  • More job visibility – Social media expands your reach and provides access to vast pools of talent.
  • Higher quality candidates – It helps companies boost diversity recruiting.
  • Increased brand awareness – A strong social media presence promotes trust among potential employees.
  • More value from hires – Social media enables you to target certain professional groups for available job vacancies.

Using social media to get the best candidates is a win-win because it shortens hiring time while reducing the cost.

Attend Industry-Related Meetups

Most companies already attend industry meets to learn about the latest trends, share ideas, and network. These events also tend to get overlooked for having pools of active and passive job candidates. A growing number of hiring managers are using non-traditional recruitment strategies like this and others, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and text recruiting apps to get the best candidates.

You can’t have a successful business strategy without recruiting the right talent. Hiring the wrong people leads to reduced productivity and dissatisfied customers. Fortunately, these strategies can help get the best employees to your organization, benefiting all parties involved.

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October 6, 2021
Millennials

Five Ways to Keep Your Millennial Employees Happy

By Industry Trends

To say millennials are important in discussions about staffing in workplaces today is a huge understatement. The reason for this is that there are 1.8 billion millennials (which make them a quarter of the world’s population) in the world.

They make the majority of today’s workforce. Moreover, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, millennials will form 75% of the US workforce by 2030.

Therefore, if you are an employer looking to hire millennials, here are five things it is highly recommended you take note of.

How to Keep Your Millennial Employees Happy

  • Create A Connected Office

Millennials are regarded as the dot.com generation for a good reason. They grew up around the time the internet started to exist. They not only grew up on the internet, but they also live there, and it defines their lives and interests.

If you want your millennial employees to enjoy your workplace, you do not only have to give them access to the internet and the digital space, but you also have to ensure that their work duties and functions allow them to use their knowledge of the digital area and the internet.

  • Make your office diverse and inclusive

By being connected to the internet, millennials are used to conversations with people of different ethnicities, races, and beliefs. They are not only used to diversity; they think of it as the only way to live.

Many millennials claim that they find workplaces with a lack of diversity bizarre and difficult to work in. Thus, if you want to keep your millennial employees happy, make attempts so that diversity is or becomes a priority for your office.

  • Support Causes

Again, millennials who have grown up around the internet have seen plenty of people advancing several causes. As a result of this exposure to advocacy, supporting ethical and charitable causes is second to the average millennial in the US. Many millennials support several reasons or even do advocacy for grounds themselves.

Thus, if you want to keep your millennial employees happy, ensure that you support their favorite cause or charity.  You can also make volunteering a part of your office activities and get your employees involved in community service.

  • Give them Job Training and Development Benefits

Since millennials are in constant communication with people worldwide, they can constantly compare themselves with those who are in the same industry in terms of employment metrics, like working conditions, wages and opportunities for personal development.

Millennials are more flexible than any other generation preceding them. So, you have to challenge them with pieces of training and personal development opportunities that allow them to improve themselves, or they will get bored at your workplace quickly.

  • Above all, care about their wellbeing

Millennials are aware of the implications of work on their health more than any generation before them. It is not just physical health for them. Millennials are now also aware of their mental health. One of the criteria that millennials seek out when they apply to jobs is their mental health.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone, and thus, a lot of millennials are not only looking for workplaces that offer physical wellness programs. They are also after emotional wellness programs for when they are working remotely and isolated.

Simply put, millennials are the workplace leaders of the future, and how happy you keep them is what determines the long-term survival of your business. As an employer, it is mandatory you ensure that your millennial employees are not only challenged but satisfied in all regards.

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September 29, 2021
C-LEVEL SUPPORT

Tips for Onboarding Top C-Level Support

By Corporate Culture

The fall in the rate of US unemployment tends to give employers headaches regarding recruiting hardworking and talented employees for their business. This is not because of the rigorous exercise of recruiting the best candidate for the job, but the low rate of unemployment which gives job applicants numerous options.

And since workers now have more options in the workforce, it is evident that an effective onboarding process is an essential factor in the recruitment process. Onboarding a Top C level support may look demanding, particularly with the status quo of the workforce.

But an effective onboarding process will help the employers hire a candidate that can uphold the organization’s values and promote the company’s brand. Effective onboarding will also guide employers to hire a high-functioning Top C level to accelerate the business team’s goals and objectives. Overall, we have simplified the tips that can help you onboard Top C level for your company.

Be Clear about the Responsibilities of the Role within Onboarding

Communication and information are two vital tools when onboarding an employee for a role in an organization.

The first duty of an employer is to state clearly the responsibilities or tasks of the job applicant. This will allow them to have better insight into what to expect when they accept your offer.

A company should also be apparent to the candidates about the company’s norms and policies. This is because some employees leave their new jobs after a few months when they find the working conditions of their new jobs unattractive.

Arrange a Meeting with Employees

Aside from discussing the roles and expectations of job candidates, facilitating an interactive session with the employees within the onboard process is also an essential factor. During the meet-and-greet session, the employers and the employees get to know each other.

The meeting also creates an avenue for employers to ask the employees some questions. This is an inquiry method that employers use to know some details about the personality traits of the job candidates. The inquiry also helps you evaluate the employees’ reputation to know if such workers will be committed to your organizational goals. This interactive session marks the beginning of the business partnership between the employees and the company.

Train Employees on How to Administer and Use the Organization’s Tools Responsibly

An effective onboarding process includes training the new team members to use the organization’s tools and resources to facilitate productivity, and how well team members can handle a company’s tools determines their job performance.

Thus, it should be a matter of utmost priority for employers to train their new team members to achieve their objectives. By training the employees how to use the tools and resources, you are helping them be productive and become influential members of the organization.

Assign the Employees a Mentor

The new team member must be assigned a training guide or mentor to navigate them through the complexities of their new job. This method creates an internal networking team between the new team member and the supervisor and helps the new employee have a professional relationship with the mentor.

As an employer, you have a lot of work to do in onboarding top C-level support employees. When you take the right step and make the proper preparation, you will get the best result possible for all parties involved.

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September 22, 2021
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