(P) How do Romanians see an efficient leader?

Mădălina Bălan, Managing Partner HART Consulting Which characteristics define a good CEO, a top leader of the organization? Above many other topics, the one related to the study of leadership is most preferred by academic researchers, but also by those in the business field as well. First of all, the ones in these roles are different from the rest of the people by a more pronounced need for success, a motivation to succeed, a will to climb the corporate ladder and to produce an impact or to have an influence on others. Then, those in position of CEO are above the average population in terms of initiative behaviors, self-confidence, and the ability of making others to follow them. Where is it coming from this interest of putting the psychological DNA of those from the top under attention? The downturn in the economy, as well as the boom periods are connected without question to certain characters, public figures which are distinct from one another by personality traits. Studies from the past centuries, in mature markets, show that a bad CEO, one who fails, leading the company to bankruptcy or even decline, can be quantified in a terrible loss of cash (up to a few million dollars)! Therefore, beyond the exciting subject through its anecdotic nature, the matter about what are the ingredients of a good or a bad CEO or top leader is as pragmatic as possible. HART Consulting conducted a study that included a sample of 500 persons in management positions, women and men, including 100 CEOs from local and multinational companies in various industries. The leaders from the sample were evaluated with a set of diagnosis tools, extremely known on an international level – Hogan. The results show that the Romanian CEOs are willing to take initiative, are responsible and follow the rules of the organization, but are more impulsive, more spontaneous in their way of acting, sometimes tend to take care of all things at a time or change the direction of action to fast. They are not too comfortable for the ones around them and their behaviors are often described as hard to predict. Also, Romanian leaders prove diplomacy and want to learn new things. People in positions of CEO in multinational companies tend to appear publicly more self-confident, are more competitive, more energetic and take more often initiative in a social context. In Romania, the entrepreneurs which are also CEOs tend to be less tolerant towards others mistakes, more suspicious of other people’s intentions (their trust can be gained harder) and tend to be more concerned and more irritable in stress situations than their homologues from the multinational companies. The CEOs from multinational companies manifest varied intellectual interests, are more creative, have a strategic thinking and have a broader perspective on things. Compared to the rest of the leaders from other organizational levels, those in positions of CEO have more courage, need less predictability and are more open to take decisions in ambiguous and changing situations. Under stress or fatigue conditions, top leaders tend to be charismatic, charming, but also melodramatic, eager to be in the spotlight, passive-aggressive, focused on their own agenda, less collaborative with others, dominant, arrogant, self-sufficient or opaque to others` ideas. The study also compared women and men who have top leadership positions. Thus, women tend to prove more altruism, have solid ethical principles, are more traditional, and are more attentive to the company’s image. Their decisions are based more on emotions and on their intuition. Men appreciate more the opportunities, the profit and put business on the first place. From a practical standpoint, getting back to what defines a good profile a CEO, the recipe is simple: to have the energy to take the initiative, to make others follow them, to take good decisions and get along with their team members in order to obtain better results than their competition. Companies can adjust, adapt this profile based on their needs at a time and can use powerful tools for predicting performance in key leadership roles. Do not forget that a single bad decision in selection at the top level may ruin an organization.