Sections of this topic
© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Much of the information on this topic is adapted from the books Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business
and Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision for Nonprofit Staff.
The chief executive officer is the most important role in the
management of an organization. This topic in the library does
not go into great detail about each of the particular systems
and practices managed by the chief executive officer because those
systems and practices are explained in depth across many of the
other topics in this library. This library topic provides sufficient
overview for the reader to gain a basic perspective on the typical
roles and responsibilities of the chief executive officer and
how those responsibilities are typically met.
Sections of This Topic Include
Gaining a Broad Perspective on the Role of Chief Executive Officer
What is the “Chief Executive
Officer”? (includes definition and major roles of position)
What Do Chief Executive Officers Do? (includes
major functions and example job descriptions)
Core Areas of Knowledge and Skills Required by Chief Executive
Officers
Basics in Management and Leadership
Planning
Organizing
Leading
Coordinating Activities/Resources (including
performance management)
Special Topics
CEO Development
Evaluating the CEO
Transitioning to New CEO (detailed procedure,
contracts, etc.)
Other Miscellaneous Topics (board relations,
executive pay, etc.)
Founder’s Syndrome
This syndrome occurs when the organization operates according
to the personality of someone in the organization (usually the
founder) rather than according to the mission of the organization.
The Chief Executive Officer can make a big difference in helping
an organization to detect Founder’s Syndrome and recover from
the Syndrome.
Founder’s
Syndrome — How Organizations Suffer — and Can Recover
Also, consider
Related Library Topics
What is the “Chief Executive Officer”?
A “Definition”
The definition of “chief executive officer” (almost
always) depends on whether a business is a corporation or not,
that is, whether it (usually) has a board of directors or not.
In an organization that has a board of directors, the “chief
executive officer” is (usually) the singular organizational
position that is primarily responsible to carry out the strategic
plans and policies as established by the board of directors. In
In this case, the chief executive reports to the board of directors.
In a form of business that is usually without a board of directors
(sole proprietorship, partnership, etc.), the “chief executive
officer” is (usually) the singular organizational position
(other than partnerships, etc.) that sets the direction and oversees
the operations of an organization.
Major Roles of the Position of Chief Executive Officer
The following link references the major roles carried out by
the typical chief executive officer.
Roles and
Responsibilities of the Chief Executive
Position Can Have Various Titles
This organizational position, whether in corporations or not,
is also sometimes called the President, Executive Director, Chief
Administrator, etc. Information on this topic will use the phrase
“Chief Executive Officer”.
What Do Chief Executive Officers Do?
Typical Responsibilities
The following link references a listing of the broad responsibilities
of the typical position of chief executive officer.
Typical
Responsibilities of Corporate Chief Executive Officer (nonprofit
or for-profit)
Job Descriptions
The following links reference additional overviews of the general
responsibilities of a chief executive, including a listing of those
responsibilities in job descriptions.
“Generic” Job Description
Job Descriptions of Nonprofit CEOs
Thanks to Betsey M. Noble, Internet Research Librarian, Global
Employment Solutions, Inc., for the following:
CEO Job Descriptions in Non-Profit Organizations
Sample Nonprofit Executive Director Position Description
The Role in Associations
Nonprofit Job Description Toolkit
Job Description for Nonprofit Executive Director
Job Descriptions of For-Profit CEOs
The CEO Job Description
The
CEO Job Description
What
do CEOs do? A CEO Job Description
Core Areas of Knowledge and Skills Required by Chief Executive
Officers
The chief executive officer is the overall, primary management
and leadership role in the organization. Therefore, it’s critical
that chief executive officers have strong knowledge and skills
in a wide variety of areas. However, there are certain basic areas
of knowledge and skills which provide the foundation from which
chief executive officers can add knowledge and skills customized
to the particular nature of their organization, its industry (service,
manufacturing, wholesale, etc.) and the current environment (political,
social, economic, and technological).
Basics in Management and Leadership
Managing
Yourself
core skills in managing/a>
Core
Competencies for Leading
Boards
of Directors
Planning
Business
Planning (plan a new business organization, product, business
department, etc.)
Strategic
Planning (establish organizational goals and how to reach them)
Organizing
Human
Resources Management
Organizing
Staff
Organizing
Various Types of Groups
Organizing
a New Business (whether for-profit or nonprofit)
Guidelines
to Reorganize a Current Organization
Leading
Leading
Other Individuals
Leading
Groups
Leading
Organizations
Coordinating Activities and Resources (including performance
management)
Ethics
Management Systems
Finances
(For-Profit) or
Finances
(Nonprofit)
Fundraising
(For-Profit) or
Fundraising
(Nonprofit)
Employee
Performance Management
Group
Performance Management
Guidelines, Methods, and Resources for Organizational Change Agents
Organizational
Performance Management
Policies
and Procedures
Product/Service
Management
Program
Management
Marketing
and Promotions and Public and Media Relations
Systems
Thinking
Special Topics
CEO Development
Leadership
Development Planning
Management
Development
Seven Surprises for New CEOs
Evaluating the CEO (Typically Referred to as “Executive
Director” if Nonprofits)
Guidelines
for Evaluating the Chief Executive
Sample
Form to Use During Evaluation of Chief Executive
Sample
of a Board’s Supervisory Skills Development Plan for CEO
The Dreaded E.D. Evaluation!
How
Can I Get My Board to Evaluate Me?
Founder’s
Syndrome (when the top executive is a poor manager)
Time for the CEO or Executive Director’s Annual
Performance Review by the Board
Firing the Executive Director
Transitioning to New CEO (including use of contracts)
Hiring
/ Transitioning to a New Chief Executive
Succession Planning
Contracts for Nonprofit Executives
CEO
Contracts
Meatloaf
or Tartare?
Also, consider
Succession
Planning
Other Miscellaneous Topics
Founder’s Syndrome
(when the top executive is the ineffective manager)
CEO
Education, CEO Turnover, and Firm Performance
Results
of New Daring to Lead Study on Nonprofit Leadership – What a Board Should
Know
Executive
Remuneration – A View from the UK
Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to the Role of Chief Executive
In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs
that have posts related to the Role of Chief Executive. Scan down the blog’s
page to see various posts. Also, see the section “Recent Blog Posts”
in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a
post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.
Library’s
Leadership Blog
Library’s
Supervision Blog
For the Category of Leadership:
To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.
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