A CEO’s job entails more than making major business decisions and ensuring the company’s financial success. It also involves managing the organization and all of its people, leading by example to establish a strong, thriving company culture.
A leader’s attitudes and behaviors trickle down, and not just to other managers and employees, but all the way to the hiring pool. That’s why it’s important for CEOs to take a critical, introspective look at how they treat their people and consider the impact it is having on the organization’s ability to recruit top talent.
Below, nine members of Forbes Coaches Council discuss how a CEO’s management style determines the types of candidates a business will attract.
Forbes Coaches Council members examine the ways a CEO's management style impacts the type of candidates a company attracts.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Psychological Safety Starts At The Top
A key aspect that trickles down from the top is the level of psychological safety, which is a shared belief that people are safe to take interpersonal risks and still feel accepted and respected. A CEO’s management style either breeds it or it doesn’t, and this behavior influences what kind of managers are attracted to the firm. People who embody openness, respect and empathy will want to support this culture. - Loren Margolis, Training & Leadership Success LLC
2. The CEO’s Behavior Sets The Tone And Standards
The CEO sets the tone, standards and culture of an enterprise through his or her own behavior. Regardless of how noble or aspirational corporate mission statements are, they only become real when embodied by the most senior leadership. New recruits will sense how respected, valued and heard organizations’ employees are, and they’ll be attracted to those that align with their hope to find purpose in their work. - Nadine Hack, beCause Global Consulting
3. Values The CEO Embodies Create An Ecosystem
The CEO’s style of managing defines the organization’s culture, ensuring its hiring practices embody its values. When the CEO’s behavior demonstrates company values, it resonates with stakeholders, encouraging them to do the same. This ecosystem that is created, in turn, determines the types of candidates the company will attract. - Bree Luther, Inspired Science Coaching
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4. Company Reputation Is Linked To The CEO’s Style
While individual leaders influence company culture, it is the CEO who has the greatest impact on company reputation. If the CEO is perceived negatively externally, top talent will not want to work there. Even if they won’t report directly to the CEO, they will assume that the CEO’s style will be shared by the leadership team. Few CEOs realize the link between their style and the company’s reputation. - Cheryl Czach, Cheryl Czach Coaching and Consulting, LLC
5. The CEO Sets The Company’s Emotional Climate
As CEO, you play a pivotal role in setting the emotional climate of your company. How you handle your own emotional state and tackle highly-charged situations determines how your people will react and the type of culture that is created. Your people take their emotional cues from you. If you want to attract great talent, focus on creating a positive emotional climate that enables people to be their best. - Yamini Virani, Celebrus Business Strategies
6. Blind Spots Lead To A Lack Of Diverse Styles
The style of CEOs can work for or against them: It will work for CEOs if they understand that they need to attract people who complement their style. It works against CEOs if they have a blind spot regarding their own style and focus only on recruiting others who emulate or resemble it. The best leadership teams have complementary styles, and the CEO leads this effort. - Dan Ryan, ryan partners
7. Like Attracts Like
A CEO sets the tone for the organizational culture. If this individual is mission- and purpose-driven, then people who are mission- and purpose-focused will be attracted to the company. If the CEO is all about making money, individuals who want to make money will be attracted. If a CEO come across as arrogant, then certain types of people will apply. The CEO’s style makes a difference. - Susan Madsen, Jon M. Huntsman School of Business
8. The CEO’s Guiding Philosophy Creates The Buzz
CEOs who develop a guiding, overarching philosophy about how they add the best value to the organization and its culture will create tremendous success and buzz about the company from its internal stakeholders. They will then attract high-quality, committed talent. It is all about how they show up daily through their leadership, reputation and integrity. Otherwise, their success will diminish. - Izabela Lundberg, Legacy Leaders Institute
9. CEO Style Influences The Employee Value Proposition
The CEO’s style of leadership is a big part of the EVP, so it determines whether top talent will be attracted to the company. Especially in the tech space, there’s no shortage of opportunities for top talent these days; candidates can pick the positions that give them the most ownership, opportunities for growth and interesting challenges at organizations that make them feel supported and nurtured. - Rajeev Shroff, Cupela Consulting
