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Though every person you hire is important, your C-suite hires are definitely the most critical ones. They need to be experts in their respective domains and serve as your trusted advisors. Since they are your company’s cornerstones and can’t be removed quickly or easily, hiring right is crucial. Yet, it’s the most difficult job too.
When hiring C-level executives, here are the five qualities you should look for.
1. Strategic Thinking
For a C-suite executive, just being technically proficient isn’t enough. The person needs to be an excellent strategic thinker too, who can visualise the company’s future and be able to identify opportunities, trends, and challenges while developing a rock-solid plan to address them. For this, your C-suite hire should have a blend of strategic thinking, problem-solving skills, creativity, and an in-depth understanding of your company’s target market and operations.
Good communication skills are equally important to possess, as the strategy needs to be communicated clearly in a way that facilitates others to understand and execute it.
2. Leadership
When you are planning to hire people who will be your right-hand men and women, leadership is a critical quality to look for. Strong leaders are those who can consistently motivate and guide their team toward a shared vision. Other qualities leaders must have include effective communication and the ability to make difficult decisions as well as create trust and respect among people.
Though leaders can be nurtured, it pays to hire people who have been successful leaders before for your C-suite roles because they are likely to have less of a learning curve.
3. Flexibility & Adaptability
Your C-suite hire should be flexible and adaptable to the constantly changing business landscape to deal with new challenges, learn from them, create and adjust plans, and make the most of new opportunities. The person must be agile and open to new ideas while being capable of making quick, well-informed decisions.
As your company’s leaders, your C-suite executives should understand diverse thinking and be willing to step outside their comfort zone, so they can easily adapt to situations around them as they change. Even when you need transitions, leaders who act fast are twice as likely to make change happen as those who aren’t flexible and adaptable.
4. Business Acumen
To succeed as a C-suite executive, the candidate must possess a deep understanding of your company’s target market and operations. Additionally, the professional must be able to identify opportunities, analyze market trends, and create strategies to capitalize on them.
Your C-suite hire must also be capable of understanding and making informed decisions about the company’s products and/or services and its operations.
5. Communication Skills
Effective communication is a crucial skill in the arsenal of a C-suite. Your C-suite executive must be able to communicate ideas, strategies, and information, no matter how complex they are, clearly and concisely to both in-house people and external parties. Excellent communication skills of business leaders can encourage transparency, reduce confusion, and boost the productivity and collaboration of the entire team.
Your company’s C-suite hire must also be able to listen to the feedback and concerns of others and respond constructively and respectfully. C-suite leaders with excellent communication skills, backed by a clear and effective communication strategy, can help achieve the company’s business objectives.
Final Words
Companies could look for qualities in their C-suite executives that differ from one organisation to another. But there are some qualities that remain constant, like the ones above, which find many takers among those hiring for their company’s C-suite roles. It pays to remember them and evaluate prospective candidates accordingly so you can make the right choice.
In case finding the right C-suite candidates prove to be a tough task, you can always rely on our expert team at InHunt World. Reach us today to discuss your hiring needs and let our experts do the rest!
This article was written by Sonali