10 Qualities of a High Flying Executive

We have just completed a survey of 300 employers in our Sydney office requesting the required qualities for a successful senior management executive. We were trying to ascertain what organisations are seeking which will then help executive job seekers but perhaps more importantly those people earlier in their career aspiring to reach the top.

Possessing these ten qualities will greatly assist young executives in becoming a career success. It is interesting to note that anecdotally when recruiting junior executives organisations place much more emphasis on academic and technical skills and creative output rather than management and leadership skills just because that reflects the nature of their work. In both cases however, passion and positive attitude would rate as the most important quality.

In order of priority (1 being most important), the required qualities were:

1) Passion and positive attitude

Whatever the position and level of seniority, a positive attitude is the key quality required in a successful executive. Organisations believe that a positive attitude and a passion for one’s work can override deficiencies in experience or knowledge. There is also a belief that in the current poor economy passion is infectious and hugely beneficial to the morale and well being of an organisation.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this is that passion and attitude are something that is not exclusive to those with an education or those working for the biggest and best companies. Indeed it is a quality that any of us can acquire and adopt.

2) Leadership and management skills

Not surprisingly the ability to manage and motivate people and to lead an organisation are required qualities for senior executives. In both small and large organisations where the greater part of the role is managing a team of people to achieve corporate goals, it’s obviously vital that the person has the charisma and respect required for people to want to follow them. They also need to possess the skill to deploy corporate resources including human resources in such away to be able to maximise efficiency and output.

3) Quality of experience

When recruiting senior executives organisations look for evidence that the executive can perform at the highest level. Inevitably, they examine the executive’s track record as the most accurate indicator of this.

This will include the quality of one’s experience as demonstrated by responsibilities and achievements and their relevance to the new role. The stature and reputation of past employers is also vital as a valuable reference point to judge the quality of the experience.

4) Soft or personal skills

It’s important for a senior executive to be able to communicate their message clearly and concisely to colleagues’ clients and suppliers alike. The more effective their communication, the more likely they are to be able to relate to their team.

Soft skills include oral and written communication skills, presentation skills and importantly social skills – the ability to relate to people in non work environment.

Interestingly listening skills and empathy are key components of communication and those who rate highly in this category are usually able to relate very well to their staff and colleagues.

There is a growing demand in Asia for multi -lingual executives as it’s increasingly important to be able to communicate in numerous languages especially English and Cantonese/Mandarin/Japanese.

5) Occupational skills – Technical, technological and operational skills

Relevant occupational skills are obviously very important in any job although less so in a senior executive position. The ability to manage and motivate is usually considered more important. However relevant technical technological and operational skills are still required so they are able to understand the issues and make the right decisions along with teaching and guiding junior staff.

For more junior and operational positions technical skills are vital and probably would be #2 in the list of priorities. Also one’s ability to use technology is becoming increasingly important not only for personal efficiency (mobile phones, email, personal organisers etc) but also in understanding how technology impacts on your organisation’s business and operations.

6) Creative outputs

In any role, the ability to be effective and add value to the position and the organisation is vital. This is certainly so for a senior executive where much of the momentum in the business must emanate from them .Organisations require them to be efficient creative and organised and to ensure that they set the pace for their team. For this reason it’s important to have high levels of work output and to be able to demonstrate the same.

7) Evidence of strong moral conduct and values

Many of the respondents highlighted values as a separate issue from leadership and management skills. Respondents believe evidence of values such as humility, trust, integrity and respect are an important foundation stone in a senior executive’s make up. If an executive can truthfully demonstrate these values to their staff they gain immense respect, which is vital in both bad and good economic times. People want to work with and for people they respect.

8) Knowledge and intellect

Knowledge and sound conceptual ability is important as a foundation stone in every successful executive’s profile. This is often evidenced through academic achievement although the two aren’t automatically connected. If one is intellectually and conceptually bright then this can be a tremendous aid in understanding complex commercial and technical issues. It remains a key selection parameter although a deficiency here can be overcome if one’s track record of experience and leadership skills are sufficiently strong.

One of the key trends in the current market is the number of middle and senior managers in mid career (aged mid thirties – late forties) who are taking second degrees or MBA’s. While gaining such a qualification isn’t an automatic passport to career success it certainly helps as it demonstrates not only inherent conceptual ability but also the desire to remain up to date with current issues and techniques.

9) Learning ability

Organisations like to recruit senior executives that are still developing and progressing. One who will be able to continue their career with the organisation rather than perhaps viewing themselves as the font of all knowledge and this as a “resting place” in their career. They will seek evidence of one’s desire and ability to learn new techniques and methodologies. In this way the executive has a much better chance of harnessing the talents of the people who work with them.

10) Persistence

Perhaps surprisingly many organisations singled out persistence as a quality they looked for when recruiting senior executives or indeed any staff. Reasons given were related to the ability to see projects through to completion and the possession of a longer-term view that could then be communicated to those people around them.

While this may have appeared slightly strange there is no doubt that when meeting senior executives, the majority demonstrate this quality not only in their current work environment but also in their career to date.

As you will appreciate some of the qualities highlighted do overlap but we have tried to group those that were almost identical and separate those where we felt different qualities were required.