Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ceo

What have they done to become a corporate executive?

neworder7 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:32:34 -0800

What have they done to become a corporate executive? I am aware that there is no exact path to follow like a cookbook recipe to achieve the results , but I always wondered what some of the executives have done to get there? Any formal or informal qualifications that helps to get there? Real life examples/stories would be good too, trying to get the feel of how one can increase their potential.

I always thought most people at that level have very good articulation and writing skills. People skills, networking are also obvious ones that I can think of. I know getting a Business degree helps but not every MBA degree holder gets to be successful.

Any comments welcome even if you don't have real life experience.

Thank you.

What companies are great at training people

willnot — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:35:02 -0800

What companies do a particularly good job of advancing the skills of their employees? What kinds of things do they do that facilitate that? A little while ago, I listed to an interview with John Hagel. It it, he mentioned that if you ask any CEO what the most important thing in their business is, they'd say their people. However, many people don't really feel appreciated.

Hagel suggested that the problem is with the focus. Rather than focusing on finding or retaining great people, companies should focus on building great people and that if they get the reputation for that, then finding and retaining people takes care of itself.

I was really struck by this idea, so I'd like to know what companies do a particularly good job of this and what kinds of things they do to facilitate learning and growth.

Famous people quitting their day jobs to do humanitarian work full time?

querty — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:37:26 -0800

Have there been any pro athletes / CEOs / celebrities (famous actors and musicians) in the past 100 years who have quit their careers midway to do humanitarian work full time? I want to make a case that people at the top do not care. They don't want change.

Let's say if Kobe Bryant goes on the news tomorrow and announces that he's quitting pro sports to do humanitarian work full time. That would be the perfect answer for my question.

Would like to hear some names, see some links and articles.

Leave a Message After the Tone

Xhris — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:06:40 -0800

I've become intrigued by the idea of these weekend meetings that the companies/government have to decide to rescue, buy, take-over each other. I understand that it's wise not to release the news whilst the stock markets are trading, but so often we hear about the US Fed meeting with banking execs 'over the weekend' and deciding such-and-such. How do they get them together? Does somebody somewhere maintain a big list of who's who and what their contact numbers are? Do companies of a certain size and type always have access to staff over weekends and the executives whereabouts 24/7 ?

I just would like to hear some details of how the mechanics of getting all these important folk together on the weekend actually works. I mean what if some CEO is fishing in the mountains, or still drunk from last night's swinger's party and has his mobile phone off? Do they lose out the chance to buy ABC bank for $1 ? (or whatever is the subject of the weekend's issues).

Who exactly does the Fed call? (no point calling the main switchboard number of my bank after 8pm on a Friday night!!). Do the company's legal departments or company secretariats organize 24/7 coverage just for emergency goings-on ? Is some poor admin assistant on duty all the time?

Or do those things actually happen Mon-Fri with days and days of warning? And the whole idea that XYZ Corp decided to spend $99 Billion to buy ABC Corp based on a quick chat at 6pm on Sunday night, just a bit of exaggerated drama to feed to the masses ?

Anybody got any real life anecdotes or experience of this?

How do I become a good CEO?

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:10:06 -0800

How do I become a good CEO? Last week, my business partners conspired behind my back and decided to make me our firm's CEO. It was unexpected and really caught me by surprise.

Now, apart from being very flattered by their trust in me and by everyone's reaction so far, I am incredibly nervous about the whole thing and really, really want to evolve into the best possible CEO I can be. Thus, I seek your help.

What is the single most important thing I should do to achieve that?

I've purposefully avoided details of our company so as not to limit your responses, but have created a gmail account for direct contact: you.want.me.to.what@gmail.com

How to raise the issue of a incompetent CEO?

tseo — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:36:29 -0800

What is the best way to raise the issue about an incompetent CEO or the best strategy to work without being bothered by one? I work for a small company - media group - and we mainly make new features for our news sites, upgrade old features and from time to time we make something entirely new.
To be short without putting the blame directly the problem that all of my colleagues and me face is when we develop something whether it is a design, concept, idea, marketing plan, usability analysis or sales pitch it has to be approved by the CEO. Then we have to make changes to our work at the last moment, changing the deadline and not having time to think enough. Most of the changes come without arguments and most of them seem silly and obviously wrong for a specialist in the field. We tried arguing our cases, we tried explaining but the demotivation is reigning all over the company now and nobody has enough passion after so many cries for sanity.
All this leads us to mediocre products and more lack of motivation and the company is losing face.
We work in a field that we like and company with that size but with good management can easily float up in the current state of our local market.

My point of view comes from two perspectives as I was first offered one managerial position directly under the CEO and I did this for three months after which I drew back to the position that I was originally called for an interview for - expert. This was cause because I was just bringing up some kind of structure for the teams when I was noticing that half of them have at least one task a day coming directly from the CEO without any coordination with me and also that all the bad stuff was supposed to go through me and all the deadlines which were not coordinated with the team were supposed to be enforced by me. I didn't feel this was right so now I am an expert and just try to argue my cases which most of the times are shattered without and reasonable argument - just some chaotic "creative" thinking and ideas.

I try to be reasonable ( read composed ) but this way of things happening keeps me from seeing my projects realised and I have serious problems with motivation.

I am looking for a way to raise this issue in a manner that is professional, non personal and effective in some way.

P.S. All kinds of notes about mistakes our CEO takes personally and gets angry even when put in writing, not pointed to somebody directly and with good factual arguments.

The Perfect PA

xanthippe — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:00:26 -0800

I'm going to be an executive personal assistant - for a very high executive. What surprises await me, and how can I perform perfectly? I've never worked in a remotely corporate environment before, and this is without a doubt the best job opportunity I'll ever get given my lack of such experience and my desire to embark on a challenging career. It's a great opportunity for me to learn and to open the door to bigger and better things.

I'd like to astonish everyone with my motivation, talent, and capability but I'm worried that I'll make stupid mistakes due to my general ignorance of the environment I'll be working in and the tasks I'll be given - I've never even worked in an office before. My question is thus a someone vague one: please tell me anything and everything that will help me excel and make the most of this opportunity. What challenges will I be faced with? How can I get oriented as quickly as possible so I can be on top of everything all the time? How should I talk, act, and dress? I trust myself to adapt quickly, but please help me by telling me all the things that should be obvious but I've never been exposed to.

How much power does Bill Gates have?

mpls2 — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:40:36 -0800

Are CEOs more like presidents or dictators? This is something I've been curious about for a long time...

How is the power of CEOs exactly defined? If a company owns a building that has operating hours of, say, 8am-9pm, can the CEO get into the building at 10pm? Obviously, the answer is probably yes, but where is this power granted, and how far does it extend? Can the CEO make a unilateral decision that only macaroni and cheese be served in the cafeteria? Can she fire a janitor because the bathroom isn't clean enough? Why or why not?

Basically, are CEOs more like presidents, who (theoretically) have to live within laws (rules), or are they more like dictators with respect to their companies?

How is this all spelled out?

[Entrepreneur] What do you call yourself?

dcbarker — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:33:32 -0800

You're an entrepreneur. You're the owner and head of your own business. You're a completely new start-up with no (or very few) employees. What do you call yourself? CEO? Managing Director? Development Manager? So I'm considering starting my own business (in the UK). The specifics are non-existent at the moment and I'm no-where near writing a business plan but some friends and I got into a debate about titles.

Some entrepreneurs call themselves CEO or MD. Personally I find this unnatural when they are the only employee (or there are only a couple of people involved). I know lots of people find this really pretentious and a bit of an ego-inflater. "Partner" doesn't sound too bad but there need to be at least two people.

Google are well known for their zany titles, but less established businesses may find it more difficult to get away with this.

I know a title isn't all that important but for the sake of things like domain registration, bank accounts, business cards, contact details for suppliers, etc, it would come in handy. Many other businesses require your title in communications.

So to all the entrepreneurs out there - what do you call yourself and why?

Corporate governance, esp. for small business

oissubke — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 15:23:13 -0800

How does corporate governance work in a small- or micro-business environment? (Note: This post is somewhat US-centric, but I'm certainly interested in hearing perspectives from other nationalities/cultures as well!)

In a small, privately-owned business, how are the various corporate duties and responsibilities typically divided up?

As I understand it, there are basically three groups of corporate leadership:

Group 1:
- Chairman of the Board
- Director
- Director
- etc.

Group 2:
- President
- Vice President
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- etc.

Group 3:
- CEO
- COO
- CFO
- CTO
- CIO
- etc.

While I generally understand the where the Board of Directors fits in, I'm less clear on, say, the difference between a President and a CEO. One person can have both roles -- but what's the difference between the roles?

Similarly, what does the Treasurer do, exactly? How does that differ from, say, a CFO?

And apart from taking minutes and signing things occasionally, what exactly is a Secretary's role? Do they do other things as well?

I'm particularly interested in how these roles relate to the small-business environment. Is it "okay" for the same person to be Chairman, CEO, and President? When the time comes for the group of leadership to grow, which of those responsibilities should be given to someone else? If there are only 1-2 owners who actively run and participate in the business on a daily basis, is a board of directors even needed?

I've looked over Wikipedia, various business books, etc., and I can't seem to find a clear explanation of these relatively simple things. It's as if it's assumed that everyone already knows these things. I must have missed that day. :-)

(Sorry for the big batch of questions, but they're all basically about wanting to better understand corporate governance.)

Thanks!

where one could find future speaking enagaments in one place?

Izzmeister — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 16:17:12 -0800

Any online repository where one could find future speaking engagements in one place? I am interested in several speakers, many of whom are non-authors.

is there any online site where i could put in the name of the person i'm interested in, and it would give me the next (open to the public, hopefully) speaking engagements by that person?

I know I could research everyone seperately, but I's love to know if there is a site that does it for you.

Think along the lines of the following speakers;

Richard Branson (Virgin Companies)
Jay Sidhu (CEO Sovreign Bank)
Steve Jobs (Apple)

along the same lines, does Amazon.com or anyone else have a service with when an author will have a speaking engagement within x miles of your zip code?

(having problems finding good tags. will add them as they come up.)

Media Executives with MBA?

UMDirector — Tue, 02 May 2006 14:20:00 -0800

Trying to find a good path from MBA to CEO of major media company or studio. Any thoughts? So I am working on an essay for by biz school application and am trying to find media executives who have there MBA and what path they took from MBA to head of a media company. For example if Terry Semel at Yahoo had an MBA he would work (he was head of WB and others before heading to Yahoo which he has turned into an almost media company). Or Brad Grey at Paramount (who also does not have an MBA). At any rate those are the type of people I am looking for...any ideas?

Steve Jobs's job title, 1976-1985?

nyterrant — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 21:21:07 -0800

What was Steve Jobs's official job title at Apple from 1976-1985? So, Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computer and ran it in the early days, but according to this Wikipedia article, he did not hold the title of chief executive until 1997. My question is, what was his official title between 1976 and his resignation in 1985?