Basic Overview of Role of Chief Executive
© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting,
LLC.
Adapted from the Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision
and Field Guide to Developing and Operating Your Nonprofit
Board of Directors.
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 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 Broad Perspective on 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
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 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.
General
Responsibilities/Roles 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 in 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 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:
Executive
Director for the Florida Association for Theatre Education
Clean
AIR Force of Central Texas Executive Director
The
CEO Role in Associations
Job Descriptions of For-Profit CEOs
The CEO Job Description
The
CEO Job Description
CEO Job Description
www.monster.com (click on "search jobs" and enter the
keyword "CEO", without quotes)
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
Basic,
Entry-Level Skills in Organizational Management
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
Organizational
Change Management
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
Evaluating the CEO
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!
Additional Information for Nonprofits
How
Do We Evaluate the Executive Director?
If
executive directors are ever fired
Founder's
Syndrome (when the top executive is a poor manager)
How to Fire Your Executive Director
Annual Evaluation of the Executive Director
When the Executive Director Leaves: The Job Of
The Board's Executive Transition Committee
Transitioning to New CEO (including use of contracts)
When the Executive Director Leaves: The Job Of The Board's Executive Transition Committee
Hiring
/ Transitioning to a New Chief Executive
Succession Planning
Four
Critical Aspects of Negotiating Nonprofit CEO Contracts (including
a sample contract)
CEO
Contracts
Other Miscellaneous Topics
Founder's
Syndrome (when the top executive is ineffective manager)
An Examination of the Relationship Between CEOs and Directors
Daring
to Lead: Nonprofit Executive Directors and Their Work (takes some
time to download)
Daring to Lead
For the Category of Leadership:
Related Library Topics
Recommended Books
For Leading Yourself, See
Personal Development -- Related
Books
For Leading Other Individuals, See
Supervision -- Related
Books
For Leading Teams, See
Facilitation and Teams -- Related
Books
For Leading Organizations, See
Organizational Development
-- Recommended Books
For Management, See
Management -- Recommended Books
Basics and General Information
Field
Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business
- by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Provides step-by-step, highly practical guidelines to recruit, utilize and evaluate the best employees for your business. Includes guidelines to effectively lead yourself (as Board member or employee), other individuals, groups and organizations. Includes guidelines to avoid burnout -- a very common problem among employees of small businesses. Many materials in this Library's topic about staffing are adapted from this book.
Field
Guide to Leadership and Supervision With Nonprofit Staff
- by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Provides step-by-step, highly practical guidelines to recruit, utilize and evaluate the best staff members for your nonprofit. Includes guidelines to effectively lead yourself (as Board member or staff member), other individuals, groups and organizations. Includes guidelines to avoid burnout -- a very common problem among nonprofit staff. Many materials in this Library's topic about staffing are adapted from this book.
The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just hover your cursor over the image of the book. A "bubble" of information will be displayed. You can click on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.
