Building Competencies for Today’s C-level Positions

by Kris Girrell

In executive circles often discussed are the issues of the C-suite, generally referring to those chief leadership positions whose titles begin with the letter C—CFO, CEO, COO and so on—with new middle letters being added each year. But, one should consider another C in the mix, that of competencies; specifically, what is the “suite” of competencies for C–level positions? Below is an examination of the competency model for today’s C-suite executives, each with a recommended practice to help build those strengths.

Commitment and Courage

These head the list of core leadership competencies. Commitment is the foundation of accountability and the only thing one really has at the end of the day. In the years of long ago, when employees stayed at the same company for 30-plus years, people often ended discussions with the phrase, “You have my word on it.”  One could take that as a promise that you could count on that person to do what they had promised—100 per cent of the time.

A commitment alters one’s relationship with reality—in other words, when a leader makes a commitment, his or her word on it superseded anything that might get in the way. And things will get in the way—always.  Just like the equal and opposite reaction in physics, the harder the commitment is the more powerful the equal and opposite reaction becomes.  In the face of that opposition, commitments must rule the day.

But commitment cannot stand alone without its counterpart—courage.  Having courage does not wipe out fear, nor is it the state of fearlessness. Courage is simply that quality that impels the leader to act and see it through. Courage is essential for the survival of leaders when every fibre of their being shouts “run away” and when no one would fault them for stepping down or for not making it the full distance.  Most would understand and forgive if the leader had only tried.  Courage might just be the difference between trying and completing!

Practice: Each morning for the next month, make one commitment for the day that will require your courage to follow through.

Communication and Clarity

Full communication is not merely talking and rhetoric.  A great public speaker is not necessarily a great communicator. The spoken half of communication requires paying close attention to the audience.  It is not enough to intend to be clear—the speaker must take responsibility for the listener as well. One must listen to the listener, as it were, to see if one has made sense, and if not, take responsibility for rephrasing the message so that it might be better understood.

But equally important is the consideration that communication is communal—it involves both parties equally in the process and that means listening to the other person as well. Excellent leaders listen not only to what others are saying, but equally to why they are saying it. Listening to the “why” opens up a deeper channel of two-way communication and a whole new level and awareness. In short, without these tools of clarification, communication breaks down into talking and waiting to talk.

Practice: For the next 30 days take full ownership of every aspect of communication: speaking and listening for both parties and make notes on what you discover. Make sure you question your listeners to confirm your intended message.

Character and Compassion

Leaders must have these two things, above all. Often touted and frequently claimed, character is perhaps the rarest of senior executive competencies.  Recently, it seems there is increasing evidence of the lack thereof. Simply stated, what one means by character is doing the right things for the right reasons and that means being able to understand the costs as well as the rewards of anything.  More often then not, character comes on the other side of a 2×4 to the side of the head.  That builds character! And with failure comes character’s partner: compassion.

True leaders have the kind of compassion that only comes from having made a sufficient number of painful mistakes. Such leaders know why others resist and fear because they too have been in that place. Compassion eliminates the need for fault-finding and allows the leader to move more quickly into solution.

Practice:  Build a “shadow resume”—a list of your greatest lessons that came at a high cost—to improve  your tolerance for others’ risk and failure.

There might be several more C-level competencies like cool, calm and collected or curious and creative, but these three pairs raise the bar sufficiently high enough for a good start!

Kris Girrell is a senior partner at Camden Consulting Group and is responsible for engineering and delivering talent management initiatives on executive coaching and leadership development. Camden Consulting Group is a division of Keystone Partners and a provider of integrated talent management solutions for organizational and leadership development.