Distinguishing CEOs from Top Level Management: A Profile Analysis of Individual Differences,Career Paths and Demographics

Purpose

Identifying the characteristics of chief executive officers (CEOs) has been a longstanding goal in leadership and individual differences research. The purpose of this exploratory study was to consider which individual difference and career path variables differentiate CEOs from other senior managers.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Participants (N = 1152) were UK-based senior managers (n = 1040) and CEOs (n = 112) who completed a self-report measure of the Five Factor Model of personality (NEO-PI-R), a measure of cognitive ability (graduate and management aptitude test), and answered a number of additional questions on their career paths as part of development centres. Analyses comprised inter-individual mean difference tests, intra-individual external profile analysis and logistic regression.

Findings

Results indicated that personality facets of impulsiveness, vulnerability, activity and dutifulness showed the largest mean differences. No significant effects were found for the criterion profile pattern, but significant effects were found for profile level. Of the additional predictors, career path variables were the strongest predictors of CEO status.

Implications

The combination of significant effects across domains of individual differences and career path variables emphasizes the importance of a multivariate approach in the study of leadership, top management teams and career progression.

Originality/Value

The current study combines personality, cognitive ability, demographic and career path variables, and applies intra-individual methodologies to explore the characteristics of the very top level of organisational hierarchy.

     

Moral “I”: The Feminist Subject and the Grammar of Self-Reference

Much recent feminist theory tacitly subscribes to some version of what cognitive and evolutionary scientists are successfully undermining as untenably Cartesian, namely, the view that moral agency is achieved through the transcendence of physical causality guaranteed by self-consciousness. Appealing to Wittgenstein's insights concerning self-reference, I argue that abandoning Cartesian dualism implies abandoning neither subject nor moral agency but rather opens up nonandrocentric possibilities unavailable to the traditional model of mind.     

Multisource Assessments of Behavioral Competencies and Selection Interview Performance

This study sought to determine whether and how ratings of leadership in a developmental multisource feedback program compare against those obtained by leadership selection decision makers. Seventy‐seven senior managers received feedback on eight competencies that also formed the basis of a subsequent promotional interview for senior executive positions. Each rating source displayed a unique perspective on the participants, but only the supervisor and peer ratings predicted performance on the interview. As well, peer, subordinate, and self‐ratings failed to improve upon the supervisors' predictions. The results also suggested a general performance factor underlying both the multisource assessments and the interview ratings.     

Reliability and Validity of the Dyadic Observed Communication Scale (DOCS)

We evaluated the reliability and validity of the Dyadic Observed Communication Scale (DOCS) coding scheme, which was developed to capture a range of communication components between parents and adolescents. Adolescents and their caregivers were recruited from mental health facilities for participation in a large, multi-site family-based HIV prevention intervention study. Seventy-one dyads were randomly selected from the larger study sample and coded using the DOCS at baseline. Preliminary validity and reliability of the DOCS was examined using various methods, such as comparing results to self-report measures and examining interrater reliability. Results suggest that the DOCS is a reliable and valid measure of observed communication among parent-adolescent dyads that captures both verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors that are typical intervention targets. The DOCS is a viable coding scheme for use by researchers and clinicians examining parent-adolescent communication. Coders can be trained to reliably capture individual and dyadic components of communication for parents and adolescents and this complex information can be obtained relatively quickly.     

Do Background Stressors Influence Reactivity to and Recovery From Acute Stressors?1

This review examines the effect of background stressors with acute stressor reactivity and recovery in the 19 available studies. Background stressors were associated with increased acute stressor reactivity in slightly over half of the studies of ongoing stressors. However, a substantial minority of studies demonstrated reduced acute stressor reactivity, suggesting habituation for certain people in certain situations. Background stressors were associated with delayed blood-pressure and immunological recovery from acute stressor events, but were not associated with delayed heart-rate recovery. Possible mechanisms underlying the association between background stressors and acute stressor reactivity and recovery are discussed. Background stressors should be measured thoroughly in future acute stress research to understand the meaning of the acute stress responses.     

A systematic examination of different parameters of presession exposure to tangible stimuli that maintain problem behavior

We examined the effects of three different presession conditions on tangibly maintained problem behavior for 2 students with autism, using individual-participant multielement designs. First, an analogue functional analysis demonstrated that problem behavior was maintained by access to tangible items. Next, topographies of item rejection were identified. Finally, students were exposed to (a) brief access, (b) no access, and (c) satiation to the tangible items prior to tangible sessions. The results demonstrated high levels of problem behavior following the brief-access and no-access presession conditions and low levels of problem behavior following the satiation condition. The findings are discussed in the context of how satiation might best be defined for these sorts of evaluations.     

Clinical Use of the Surgeon General’s “My Family Health Portrait” (MFHP) Tool: Opinions of Future Health Care Providers

This study examined medical students’ and house officers’ opinions about the Surgeon General’s “My Family Health Portrait” (MFHP) tool. Participants used the tool and were surveyed about tool mechanics, potential clinical uses, and barriers. None of the 97 participants had previously used this tool. The average time to enter a family history was 15 min (range 3 to 45 min). Participants agreed or strongly agreed that the MFHP tool is understandable (98%), easy to use (93%), and suitable for general public use (84%). Sixty-seven percent would encourage their patients to use the tool; 39% would ensure staff assistance. Participants would use the tool to identify patients at increased risk for disease (86%), record family history in the medical chart (84%), recommend preventive health behaviors (80%), and refer to genetics services (72%). Concerns about use of the tool included patient access, information accuracy, technical challenges, and the need for physician education on interpreting family history information.