This article discusses how the generalist CEO will give way to specialist CEOs in the companies of the future. As the perfect CEO, who is good at everything, will be a rare entity, companies should instead look for CEOs with deep expertise in one or two areas with enough knowledge to build a high performing supporting team. The author has described five specialist CEO types. The Brain will be a CEO who is an expert engineer, innovator, and can help lead R&D teams. The Ambassador will be a well-traveled CEO, having made visits to the leading and developing economies of the world. The Dealmaker will be an expert in mergers and acquisitions. The Conductor will be required to increase collaboration between corporate units and to help promote teamwork. The Casting Agent will be a CEO who can employ, retain and deploy the best people in the company, in short – assemble an all star team.

Future companies may have more than one CEO – each a specialist in his/her field. In the studies of leadership, the big five personality framework – extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience – are considered to be traits of an effective leader. Here, instead of searching for a single leader with all leadership qualities, we are searching for different leaders excelling in at least one of the qualities. If we implement this format, it will bring about changes in the studies on leadership and organizational behavior. Along with studying relationships between the CEO and his/her employees, we will also have to study the inter-personal relationships between the different CEOs of the same company handling different jobs yet working together to head the company.

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