Comments on: What does a CEO do, anyway?

By: Brantley Foster

Brantley Foster — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:18:58 +0000

I wanted badly to become a CEO and for a very long time ever since I saw the 1987 film, The Secret of My Success with Michael J Fox. It was about this kid working in a mailroom and ending up in the boardroom. That resonated with me because at the time I was working in a mailroom. I envisioned myself as that characted. Unfortunately instead of taking that fast track to success, I got on the slow train to nowhere with no stops.
Me a CEO, yeah that dream died a horrible death.

By: Nigo Umuze

Nigo Umuze — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:06:59 +0000

Thanks for all your help. this has been enlightening. Pls what’s d difference b/w duties of a managing director and a ceo

By: Stever

Stever — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:42:45 +0000

Lucas, you’re right–in a startup, the CEO’s job is also to help raise money. Note, however, that it can be delegated to business brokers, investment bankers, etc.

Raising money is a commodity activity, though, and should be recognized as a necessary but low-value-added use of time. (Every business has to raise money, so the mere raising of money in no way distinguishes one entrepreneur from another. It’s simply a task that must be done, like paying bills.)

By: Lucas

Lucas — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:44:00 +0000

Steve,

CEO job is not also to find money ? for instance in the case of start-up company ?

By: The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind. « Tales of Management

The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind. « Tales of Management — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:38:35 +0000

[...] Related podcast “What is a CEO’s job?” [...]

By: Stever

Stever — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:54:28 +0000

Dear Mr. Mujtaba, I recommend reading some books like “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber to get a sense of what is involved in starting your own company. For details about the different professions, the fastest way to learn might be to take a long-distance class in business management if that is a possibiity. You can think of all positions in a company as being about making decisions. The CEO makes decisions around the areas in the CEO job article. The Chief Financial Officer makes decisions about how the company raises and spends money. etc. In a small business, the titles are usually given at the CEO’s discretion, and the actual job descriptions may be very fluid, depending on the needs of the company. Google “MBA Handbook” and you may find various books and publications that can help with the details. Good luck!

By: doctor mujtaba

doctor mujtaba — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:38:00 +0000

Hi, this is Dr.Mohd.Mujtaba Yousuf from Pakistan actually I am going to start a new Alternative medicine Company, at very begining i was doing Import/Export,Treading business only but now iam going to make my own company,i have one office in Pakistan and other one in China and i have registered my both offices from there governments. Actually i want to know about management planings, staff management and about there ranks in sequence such as C.E.O, Director,M.D…etc, because i have no any idea about business management.

Thank you for your time

Regards

By: Tchamo

Tchamo — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:24:41 +0000

Thank you it was so clear.
I was very confused on the function of a CEO now I know. I can clearly choose my career

By: Omar Zedan

Omar Zedan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:31:33 +0000

Excellent topic.
Could you please clarify the relations between the CEO & the managing board ?

By: Mr. Linder

Mr. Linder — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:44:59 +0000

Thank you for the article. I divided my tenth grade reading class into 3 businesses. They each have ranks within such as CEO, CMO, CTO, COO, etc. This helped me to explain their roles.