As part of our learning process, each group in the CEO Series class is assigned to introduce an executive officer. This task of introducing an executive tests the students’ ability to communicate maturely with the guest speaker and convey to the class the achievements and the attributes that the assigned CEO have that made him a great one.
For our group, we had Mr. George Chua. I lifted some portions from our prepared introduction. Mr. Chua was once part of the Command and General Staff College of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical and Industrial Management Engineering from the De La Salle University and earned his MBA at Wharton School. Mr. Chua was also affiliated with Citibank and other local banks in the country. Currently, he is the president of the Financial Executive Institute of the Philippines and the CEO of Bayan Automotive Industries Corp., most popularly known as BAIC.
Mr. Chua shared with the class the different CEOs’ perspectives in terms of technology and the Asean integration. He also gave us the defining moments in his life that shaped him to who he is today.
Successful CEO attributes
What struck me the most during his speech was his list of successful CEO attributes. This is what this article is all about. From Mr. Chua’s top 10 list, I injected my own perspective in applying said attributes. Let’s start!
1. Education and training. This is the building block. Education and training will mold us in a technical sense. They can give us a head start in our career by applying what we learned in school to the trends and issues of today. However, these two things do not guarantee success.
2. Work smart than work hard. During the first two years of my career, I worked for 12 hours or more per business day. I was at the office before 7 in the morning and left my station at around 7 or 8 in the evening. I rarely talked to anybody and focused on the job that has to be done. I thought this was the normal process. I want to be promoted as fast as I can so I worked the hardest. Years later, I grew tired of everything. I started getting constant negative feelings about work. This was when I realized I need a change of working strategy. I learned how to prioritize and stopped chasing or beating time. “I can only do so much on a day but my work can be so much in a lifetime.”
3. Efficiency is key. Efficiency is computed as output divided by input. I allot some time of my work day in innovating the department’s processes and even my personal ones. This way, I will be able to shorten the time in finishing one task, giving me more ample time for others. Multi-tasking is also a key here.
4. Excellent communication. I think better communication is essential in every department or company. One must be able to communicate effectively his thoughts, messages, and intentions to be able to get his or her desired results.
5. Learn to play the part. Each employee is important. Every function has value. Learn how to be responsible and accountable for each work done, be it successful or not. Own up to your mistakes, learn from them, and work from there.
6. Networking is essential. No man is an island. Old school saying, you heard it a gazillion times, but that is the truth. Processes and activities can be more efficient if there is help. Career can be flourishing through investors, customers, and mentors.
7. Positive thinking can attract good luck. Have you ever seen memes or quotes on FB or Instagram about shooing away bad vibes? This also applies here. Negative thinking is a cover. It messes up with the way you perceive things. On the other hand, if you see the world in a different light, then things will be different. You can see failure as opportunities. Rejections can turn into something constructive.
8. Timing is everything. Time is gold. I remember hearing this line when I was in pre-school. Our class’ motto. I was so impressed by this line that I ended up putting it on every notebook I had during that academic year. But the impression did not last that long. It ended when I realized that Nixon, in the 1970s, ended the link between gold and US dollar. Kidding!
Time gives us a perception of better things to come. It gives us hope, something to look forward to in the future. At the same time, it helps us reflect on the past, and appreciate and grab what we have and what we can have in the present. It taught us to hustle in a way without being thoughtlessly impatient and make us realize that we can use it to our advantage.
Abraham Lincoln said, as cited in the novel #GirlBoss, “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”
9. See the big picture. The things we do intertwine with reality and reality is bigger than what we can think of. Always bear in mind that every minute activity that we can do in achieving our goals is important.
10. Know how to execute a plan and turn them into reality. They say everything starts with a plan but a plan will remain as such if no one will execute it. This is the same way with dreams. As children, we dreamt a lot. At school then, we were often asked what do we want to be in the future. We answered a lot of things from the traditional and expected of being a doctor, lawyer, teacher and nurse to maybe a little extraordinary, such as a game master. On my part, I gave teacher, singer, pilot, astronaut, and yes, a sniper. But these childhood dreams and goals can be nothing if we do not work hard to get them. Same way with business, if we do not envision anything and execute them, we are nothing.
The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. This essay is part of a journal she keeps in fulfillment of the requirements of the course, Trends and issues in Business and Management: CEO Series. Visit her blog at http://annecapinpin.blogspot.com/.
The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.