The opportunity recently arose to have an open discussion with a retired CEO of a small to medium corporate in South Africa. The discussion questioned the key characteristics that CEO’s or business owners seek when filling a senior management role in their organisation. These key characteristics are discussed below; although these may not be the key factors that promote a person within an organisation, they will go a long way in showing potential.

1. Manage your emotions
This one is an obvious statement, but many employees can lose control of their emotions when the pressure is on. There is no easy way to handle a situation when a person who is part of your team loses control of their emotions, and it can very quickly escalate into an atmosphere-destroying moment. Losing control of emotions has a larger potential for danger when in a senior management role. A more senior management role will most definitely translate into an increase in pressure.

2. Be a Listener
Every employee wants to be part of a team where they know that they are being listened to. The skill of a manager to listen to those in his team leaves them with a feeling that their contribution is valued. A team’s level of productivity is directly linked to their level of motivation; and motivating a person starts with the feeling that their contribution is valued.

3. Quick to show compassion
The pressure of circumstances in life outside of work can have a big impact on the performance of an employee in the workplace. The senior manager who gets the best out of their team is one that knows how to balance compassion with being firm on performance. Showing sensitivity towards a co-worker can mean the difference between a committed or loyal employee or a resentful and angry employee.

4. Take responsibility for mistakes
While everybody makes mistakes, what separates a skilled employee from the majority needs to be their willingness to take ownership of mistakes and focus on finding a solution. The next step is to learn from mistakes, as repeating the same error continuously can be very frustrating. Remember, a person who shows initiative will probably make mistakes, but needs to learn from them.

5. Conflict resolution
A larger team will increase the likelihood of conflict arising in that team. The ability to correctly manage conflict in a team becomes a critical skill when other employees have not learnt how to control their emotions. Conflict will happen at some point but a good senior manager is able to use that conflict to strengthen the team.

The Master Builders KwaZulu-Natal runs a recruitment agency, if you are looking for a new opportunity or a new position to be filled, please feel free to give us a call or go to www.masterbuilders.co.za for more information.