Chief Executives

Description

Determine and formulate policies and provide the overall direction of companies or private and public sector organizations within the guidelines set up by a board of directors or similar governing body. Plan, direct, or coordinate operational activities at the highest level of management with the help of subordinate executives and staff managers.

Tasks

  • Direct and coordinate an organization's financial and budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, and increase efficiency.
  • Confer with board members, organization officials, and staff members to discuss issues, coordinate activities, and resolve problems.
  • Analyze operations to evaluate performance of a company and its staff in meeting objectives, and to determine areas of potential cost reduction, program improvement, or policy change.
  • Direct, plan, and implement policies, objectives, and activities of organizations or businesses to ensure continuing operations, to maximize returns on investments, and to increase productivity.
  • Prepare budgets for approval, including those for funding and implementation of programs.
  • Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
  • Negotiate or approve contracts and agreements with suppliers, distributors, federal and state agencies, and other organizational entities.
  • Review reports submitted by staff members to recommend approval or to suggest changes.
  • Appoint department heads or managers and assign or delegate responsibilities to them.
  • Direct human resources activities, including the approval of human resource plans and activities, the selection of directors and other high-level staff, and establishment and organization of major departments.
  • Preside over or serve on boards of directors, management committees, or other governing boards.
  • Prepare and present reports concerning activities, expenses, budgets, government statutes and rulings, and other items affecting businesses or program services.
  • Establish departmental responsibilities and coordinate functions among departments and sites.
  • Implement corrective action plans to solve organizational or departmental problems.
  • Coordinate the development and implementation of budgetary control systems, recordkeeping systems, and other administrative control processes.
  • Direct non-merchandising departments such as advertising, purchasing, credit, and accounting.
  • Deliver speeches, write articles, and present information at meetings or conventions to promote services, exchange ideas, and accomplish objectives.
  • Serve as liaisons between organizations, shareholders, and outside organizations.
  • Review and analyze legislation, laws, and public policy, and recommend changes to promote and support interests of both the general population and special groups.
  • Nominate citizens to boards and commissions.
  • Interpret and explain policies, rules, regulations, and laws to organizations, government and corporate officials, and individuals.
  • Make presentations to legislative and other government committees regarding policies, programs, or budgets.
  • Refer major policy matters to elected representatives for final decisions.
  • Administer programs for selection of sites, construction of buildings, and provision of equipment and supplies.
  • Direct and coordinate activities of businesses involved with buying and selling investment products and financial services.
  • Direct and conduct studies and research on issues affecting areas of responsibility.
  • Attend and participate in meetings of municipal councils and council committees.
  • Organize and approve promotional campaigns.
  • Conduct or direct investigations or hearings to resolve complaints and violations of laws, or testify at such hearings.
  • Represent organizations and promote their objectives at official functions, or delegate representatives to do so.
  • Prepare bylaws approved by elected officials and ensure that bylaws are enforced.
  • Direct and coordinate activities between the United States Government and foreign entities to provide information and promote international interests and harmony.

Knowledge

Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Economics and Accounting — Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sales and Marketing — Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Personnel and Human Resources — Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Medicine and Dentistry — Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

Skills

Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Management of Financial Resources — Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities

Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Work Activities

Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.

Work Context

Telephone — How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?
Electronic Mail — How often do you use electronic mail in this job?
Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?
Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company?
Frequency of Decision Making — How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization?
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?
Freedom to Make Decisions — How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?
Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?
Letters and Memos — How often does the job require written letters and memos?
Time Pressure — How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines?

Interests

Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Conventional — Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Artistic — Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
Investigative — Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Work Style

Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

Work Values

Recognition — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status.
Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employs to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Working Conditions — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.
Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.

Related Occupations

Lay Titles

National Wages and Employment Info


Median Wages (2008): $76.23 hourly, $158,560 annual.
Employment (2008): 301,930 employees