Did you ever wonder what goes on in the brain of your organization's CEO?  How do they think and what tasks are easy or difficult for them to do? In my journey to find answers to these questions, I met Ned Herrmann, the founder of Whole Brain Technology and a pioneer of creative thinking in the corporate world.  Ned conducted many studies on the ways that CEOs think and communicate in the workplace and you will find those results below.

 

Also, I have also been intrigued by how the CEO climbed the corporate ladder in their organizations. Ned Herrmann's database of thinking styles of CEO's will share a snapshot of how they think which ultimately led to their success. Each CEO was asked to rank 16 work elements according to their strength in that activity.

 

In his study of 697 Male CEOs from six different countries he found that CEOs ranked themselves strongest in the following work elements as a weighted average:

 

1)  Problem Solving-able to find solutions to difficult problems by reasoning.

2)  Organizational Aspects-able to arrange people, concepts, objects and  elements,  etc. into coherent relationships with each other.    

3)  Interpersonal Aspects-Easily able to develop and maintain meaningful and pleasant relationships with many different kind of people.

4)  Conceptualizing-Able to conceive thoughts and ideas-to generalize abstract ideas from specific instances.

 

Interestingly, the 76 female CEOs he surveyed from three countries ranked themselves strongest in the same work elements as males but in a slightly different order:

 

1)      Organizational Aspects

2)      Interpersonal Aspects

3)      Problem Solving

4)      Conceptualizing

 

According to Ned Herrmann these work elements "Represent personal mental work activities carried out largely by the CEOs themselves and not delegated to staff."

 

What is equally interesting are the work elements that male CEOs used least often across six countries as a weighted average:

 

13)    Administrative-able to manage and execute policies, procedures and goals.

14)    Writing- one who communicates clearly with the written word and enjoys it.

15)    Teaching/Training-able to explain ideas and procedures in a way that people can understand and apply them.

16)    Technical Aspects-Able to understand and apply engineering and scientific knowledge.

 

Female CEOs across three countries used the following work elements least often as a weighted average:

 

 13) Writing

14) Teaching/Training

15) Financial Aspects

16) Technical Aspects

 

The male CEO is less proficient using administrative work activities and the female CEO is less proficient using financial aspects.

 

So, what conclusions do I draw from these findings?

 

1)      Male and female CEOs are more similar than dissimilar in their strongest and weakest work elements.

2)      If you are interested in working your way to these positions you will need to become proficient in problem solving, interpersonal aspects, organizational aspects and catching on quickly to concepts.

3)      Those areas that are least necessary for you to develop in your climb to the top, and can be assigned to others, include administrative work, financial, technical and teaching/training.

 

 

Oh, and to be really successful as a CEO, you will need those four work elements listed above, an incredible work ethic, integrity and a good sense of humor always helps!