Five Skills & Habits You Need to Reach the C-Suite

There are a limited number of C-level positions within a company. Do you know how to demonstrate you’re the one for the job?

Oftentimes, transitioning into the C-Suite is not easy. Professionals hoping to be promoted to these executive-level positions face high expectations and competing demands. They may also feel less supported than they did when working for previous promotions. Many professionals feel that facing these challenges is worth the reward of a C-level position.

Do you know what skills and habits are most valued by companies when filling executive-level positions? Here are five skills you should develop if you want to reach the C-Suite:

Strategic Thinking.
In today’s global business environment, strategic thinking is essential for overall success and creating greater value for customers. It helps to create a new framework for the direction of the company. C-Suite executives need to develop the ability to strategically plan for the future, set new directions for their organization or department, and stay ahead of the competition. You will be expected to be able to answer the question of, “What do we need to do, and why?” Strategic thinking blends innovation with research, creativity, and industry best practices.

Leadership.
A successful C-level executive must be able to inspire those that they manage and ensure employee buy-in. A strong leader has the ability and know-how for building a strong, multidimensional team capable of accomplishing business goals.

Communication & Relationship Building.
Communication goes hand-in-hand with leadership skills. They will build strong relationships with their teams by speaking clearly and projecting confidence. Executives in the C-Suite need to be able to effectively communicate with those on their team in order to ensure that all employees understand current objectives as well as how they will be expected to achieve them. A C-level executive does not succeed alone in a vacuum – they require the expertise of other strong employees to get the job done and can interact with stakeholders at all levels.

Innovation & Change.
Many companies expect those in the C-Suite to develop new solutions and drive innovation on a large scale. You should be comfortable operating in a state of constant change and always be looking for ways to improve current operations, such as building better processes, creating stronger commercial relationships, or upgrading systems.

Technical Skills.
A C-level executive needs to be intimately familiar with the body of knowledge that falls under their specialty, such as finance, technology, or law. They should understand how technology impacts their industry as well as the company, and be familiar with how to leverage technology to ensure success for the organization.

Desired executive skill sets often change as technology and market forces affect companies in new ways, but there will always be a core set of skills that employers will scan for when selecting C-Suite executives. The above skills will always be relevant, and we recommend that executive-minded workers develop them.

If you are looking to hire an IT, Accounting, or Finance professional, or work in any of those fields and looking to advance your career, you can contact Equis Staffing via email at info@equisdifference.com or give us a call at (818) 444-0100.