How to Think Like a CEO

What you can learn

D. A. Benton draws on interviews with executives to identify twenty-two traits she associates with leadership at the top of an organization. The book addresses the conduct of people responsible for decisions, teams, ideas, and crises, asking what contributes to advancement beyond technical competence. [1]

The useful question is how others experience your readiness for responsibility. Knowledge matters, but people also notice whether you listen, communicate a decision, acknowledge an error, and remain dependable when circumstances change. Those behaviors can be practiced without waiting for a formal executive title.

Read critically

Interviews with successful executives reveal their interpretations, not a controlled test of what caused their success. Selection effects and workplace norms may make certain styles look universal when they are not. Readers should also question whether a trait creates useful service or merely conforms to an expected image of authority.

This is best for professionals examining how they work with others. It should not imply that one personality type deserves leadership, or that people excluded from advancement simply failed to display the right traits.

A seven-day value experiment

Choose one behavior you want to improve, such as explaining a decision clearly. Before a routine meeting, prepare a brief account of the issue, available options, reasoning, and what feedback could change your view.

Use existing meeting time and ask a willing colleague whether your explanation was understandable. Invite one question before closing the decision, and acknowledge any point you cannot answer yet. At week's end, check whether participants know the next step and why it was chosen. The observable benefit is clearer coordination, not a more commanding performance.

Discuss: Which leadership behavior would remain valuable even if nobody associated it with status or promotion?