There has been much debate about the education
level required to become a CEO.
Technically, any discipline can fill the role, but what makes the best
CEOs?
There is no law dictating a tertiary-level
education for CEO however most have attended college or university. Completing this level of course demonstrates
hard work, exposure to a number of subjects and the ability to work well within
a team and also individually- all skills a CEO should have. A degree from an Ivy League school or other
highly-rated educational establishment is looked upon particularly favourably
because of the competitiveness associated with these courses. Some well-known CEOs, such as Richard Branson
of the Virgin Group, didn’t complete tertiary education and have carved out extremely
successful careers regardless.
The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate
Governance and Financial Ethics research found that there is no consistent,
long-term relationship between CEO education and firm performance. The analysis
was extended to six measures of education and three measures of performance;
however, it failed to find strong or reliable associations.
The difficulty of evaluating intangible
qualities like leadership ability and interpersonal skills means that many
hiring committees end up relying on a potential CEOs education, even though
studies have proven it has little impact on a company’s performance. When faced with more than one candidate,
education is one way of choosing between them.
Those making the final decision on hiring a CEO should be careful about
the weight assigned to a candidate’s educational background and focus on other
factors equally.
An individual’s personality is especially
important for the role of CEO. Strong
leadership is a trait which is considered essential by many and suitable
personality traits can help a CEO rise to the top and most importantly, stay
there in tough times. Typically, CEOs
are good decision makers, deal makers and communicators, brand advocates
enthusiastic about the company’s story and able to gain the respect of
employees at every level. A common motto is ‘leaders are
born, not made’. Becoming a CEO takes
years of hard work and often those who have worked their way up through a
company know the firm, its people and culture better than any outsider ever
could.
About the author
Jamie Ferguson joined Maxwell Drummond’s Aberdeen team in 2006 to focus on executive search in the energy sector. In 2007 he was promoted to General Manager in Aberdeen and in 2009 Jamie relocated to Houston as Vice President of Maxwell Drummond’s USA and Latin America business.
About the author
Jamie Ferguson joined Maxwell Drummond’s Aberdeen team in 2006 to focus on executive search in the energy sector. In 2007 he was promoted to General Manager in Aberdeen and in 2009 Jamie relocated to Houston as Vice President of Maxwell Drummond’s USA and Latin America business.
Maxwell Drummond
International is a world leading retained search consultancy offering
professional search services to clients in all sectors of the energy and natural
resources industries.
How much does the educational background of the hiring committee play in to the decision regarding the CEO. It is often said that managers tend to hire employees that are similar to the hiring manager. An academic hires an academic, a self made person hires a self made person: birds of a feather so to speak....The better leaders that I have worked for tend to seek out individuals the get results in a manner that is compatiable with the culture of the business. I think part of the equation is, Is the company private or public? - How do the shareholders react to an UNDER educated CEO?
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