3 Skills You Need to Succeed in the C-Suite

If you’re hoping to reach the C-Suite, you need to cultivate a special set of skills. Here are some of the most important abilities you need to find success as a C-Suite executive.

1. Self-awareness

Self-awareness is the ability to see oneself clearly and truthfully. Research has found that individuals who claim self-awareness as a characteristic tend to be more creative and more confident; they make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships and communicate more effectively. Knowing one’s own strengths and weaknesses, patterns and preferences, would make an individual more suitable for the C-suite.

In particular, self-awareness is important for executives because of the following benefits:

• Impact: Knowing how one’s behavior will affect others is a useful ability. In the c-suite, executives are much less likely to receive feedback, so having an innate sense of one’s impact is imperative for being a high-level leader.
• Subject matter expertise: No one can know everything. Executives need to know which subjects they are experts in — and which subjects they need outside assistance to understand. Self-awareness helps with identifying these strengths and weaknesses.
• Emotional intelligence (EI): Being aware of one’s emotions and the emotions of others is the first step to better controlling those emotions. EI is a skill that can be cultivated, but it requires a strong foundation of self-awareness, first.

2. Influence

Senior-level leaders have several jobs, but influencing others is among the most important. Executives need to be able to present and promote their ideas effectively, convincing others to engage in certain perspectives and behaviors that benefit the organization. Members of the C-Suite who are unable to properly influence the right people are unlikely to be successful in their positions.

Specific skills associated with an improved ability to influence include:

• Communication: In truth, everyone in business needs a firm grasp on their communication skills, but leaders at the C-Suite level must be able to exercise various types of communication to accomplish their diverse goals.
• Negotiation: It isn’t enough for a C-Suite leader to know what they want; they need to be able to negotiate with others to get it. C-Suite hopefuls can learn negotiation strategies to deploy as they rise up their career ladder.
• Delegation: The ability to delegate is critical in the C-Suite, as high-level executives cannot hope to complete every task on their own. It’s important to realize that delegation isn’t merely offloading; it’s also an opportunity to teach and develop peers in significant ways.

3. Agility

Just as no business can succeed without changing, no business leader can find success without the ability to demonstrate flexibility. The C-Suite presents ever-shifting circumstances that require executives to apply their knowledge and skill in new and unforeseeable ways. Being agile helps high-level business leaders identify needs, make decisions and otherwise accomplish goals even when they are in unfamiliar territory.

Two fields necessary for C-Suite success that draw upon the ability to be agile include:

• Change management: Executives need to be capable of guiding their workforces through all sorts of change. Change management is a field that is rising in popularity, imparting the requisite skills and knowledge for navigating an organization through changes big and small.
• Strategic thinking and foresight: Senior leaders should be adept at forecasting and developing plans based on forward thinking. However, leaders should also be able to adapt their plans on the go because unanticipated challenges always arise.

You might have leadership experience, but that doesn’t mean you are well-equipped to survive in the C-Suite. If you have high-level business ambitions, you need to go out of your way to develop skills you might not think to use in your current management position. Self-awareness, influence and agility are three critical skills that provide a good foundation — but you might want to talk to a C-Suite leader in your field for further guidance on what qualifications you should gain.