Smart Hiring for CEO Smart hiring for a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of an enterprise of whatever size, is extremely important to the enterprise. The CEO is the key or principal executive in a business and determines practically all things that happen to that business hence the rationale to always hire smart. He conceives, develops and ensures implementation of strategies and tactics for the enterprise, in liaison with stakeholders such as the board of directors, shareholders and investors, the management team etc. He provides overall enterprise leadership and ensures a good environment for execution and attainment of business goals and objectives, both in the short and long-term. The CEO sets the pace and general direction of the enterprise. He builds teams and empowers them, equipping them with required resources, monitoring their performances over time and also rewards them accordingly. For motr info about Patrick Henry CEO visit here. A CEO should be able to focus on key issues such as mission and vision, change management, improving shareholder value, growth, resource allocation, strategy, profitability and sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness, risk management, building teams etc. If a CEO candidate cannot come out clear and strong in these aspects, then he or she may be a gamble for the enterprise. The CEO role is a big picture role, hence focuses on the cornerstones of the enterprise, manifested by the combination and interplay of the above. The overall future of a business depends to a large extent on how the enterprises recognizes and manages the dynamics of what matters to the enterprise, in light of various environmental factors both internal and external. Whatever the approaches used in hiring the CEO, certain salient considerations as indicated below should be taken into account, in order to hire smart. Customer focus. A CEO that lacks customer focus may not be able to add much value to excellent customer service hence limiting growth of the enterprise. While hiring, look for good traits of customer or client eccentricity or focus. People skills are also pivotal for a good CEO. He should be able to build great teams, surround himself with people smarter than himself, love delegating work and developing others, energetic and yet able to energize others, have genuine care for people, persuasive and a good communicator, able to accommodate varied opinions while maintaining healthy tension in the team. Personality issues such as integrity (truthfulness, responsibility, obedience to laws etc), openness, conscientious, innovative mind and also other learned skills such as analytical and critical thinking, intelligence, trouble shooting etc are also paramount. The CEO need to be authentic and not fake, but authoritative and in control, connecting easily with people, confident. The demands of the role require these and your CEO ought to have them. Job previews for proper understanding of job content should be one of your considerations. If you hire a myopic CEO who has limited understanding of what it takes to succeed, and the scope of the job, the enterprise will suffer. You can make use of job previews to identify the right person. To hire smart you also need to consider the capability to handle challenging situations and decisions including setbacks or crisis. Maturity is fundamental for a CEO. The ability to weather the storms of fluctuations, crisis, economic downturns etc are vital for a CEO. The CEO needs courage to make tough yes-or-no decisions, and knowing when to limit assessing options and make a call. Tough experiences should not discourage a CEO.