Top executives learn how to build coalitions with their peers because politics is necessary when your proposals need support. Successful executives build coalitions with other executives rather than stabbing them in the back. What are the characteristics of the best executives? The management.about.com website points out the following.
1. They are critical and require the highest levels of performance, which can be seen as nitpicking perfectionism … but they are just encouraging their team to exceed its limits. What makes the difference between the average and the best executives is that the best ones deliver their criticism in private. They know that coming under the fire of an angry executive at a team meeting can be a nightmare.
2. They think strategically and can connect the dots. They know everything about their company’s business model and understand the needs of its customers.
3. Stability means only one thing to them: boredom. They are hungry for change and enjoy turnarounds; they like start-ups. They are always looking for new challenges … and often are offered some. They usually don’t have to look for a new job: they are quickly recruited.
4. Their drive to win is unbelievable: they compete in every business and they desire the number one status. This immense competitiveness is obvious also in their approach to their hobbies and in the sports they do. Moreover, what is good enough for the majority of people is never good enough for them. They need constantly to be improving and achieving top results in everything they do.
5. They have discovered what work-life balance means for them. According to Professor Boris Groysberg, who has been studying the work-life balance of top executives for years, such executives make deliberate choices. They have come to know, usually through hard experience, that they need to combine work and home carefully in order not to lose their loved ones or even themselves.
6. They really like making decisions, even when only limited information is available. They are often called upon to make decisions – which they do ... but are also not afraid to change them if they subsequently prove to be wrong.
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