Chandler Earl

E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Business 1010
Chief Executive Officer
Job DescriptionThe Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest-ranking executive manager in a
corporation or organization. Mentioned in an article I found called The Balance it says a lot of
things about what the core responsibilities of a CEO is but one thing that really stuck out to me
in the article was when it quoted "The CEO has responsibility for the overall success of an entire
organization." I believe that is the main goal of any CEO of any organization and that is what
sparked my interest in this career path. The CEO has the ultimate authority to make final
decisions for a company and the needs of each company differ so the responsibilities for the
CEO differs as well. The day to day tasks of a CEO vary as well for each organization but the
overall position of the job is the framework of every organization across the world. Going back
to the article in The Balance it says "The CEO has overall responsibility for creating, planning,
implementing and integrating the strategic direction of an organization." The "big" responsibility
that this position entails is basically running a company and making all the decisions for it and I
believe that no other responsibility in a work place could be bigger. The CEO reports to the
Board of Directors and serves and the discretion of the Board of Directors and the Board of
Directors position is and nominal and just advisory to the CEO. The core responsibilities of the
CEO is creating, communicating and implementing the organizations vision, mission, overall
direction. They lead, guide, directing and evaluating the work of other executive leaders
including presidents, vice presidents and directors. They are soliciting advice and guidance,

when appropriate, from a Board of Directors. The CEO is a key player in whether and how well
an organization will succeed. If they carry out these job responsibilities effectively, it will
magnify the probability that their organization will experience success.
General Career PathFrom an entry-level position in an organization to getting to the CEO of the organization
is a very hard quest and very rare to happen, but it has happened in some cases. In The
Huffington Post, by Nicole Hardesty she goes into depth about some 11 CEO's that started out at
the bottom and made it to the top of the organization. An example of one is Ursula Burns who is
now the chairman and CEO of Xerox. She started out as an intern for Xerox and the managers
quickly noticed her talent. She then received an executive assistant spot from one of the
respected executives there at Xerox and she learned and developed all her business skills from
her. Then in 1999, she was named Vice President for Global Manufacturing and earned her title
as chairman and CEO by 2009. So basically to make it from a entry-level to the CEO of a
company you have to remain flexible and allow yourself to transform as Burns did. By allowing
yourself to adapt, new opportunities will arise and may land you at the top.
General Education ExperienceAs I found in the website Chron by Sam Ashe-Edmunds, he says that some CEO's have
specific educational experience to their jobs, earning degrees that are closely related to the
company's product and service, as well as earning certifications and continuing education credits.
The general education is to have a general Business degree, earned as part of a double major or a
master's degree. Because so much CEO's work is general management rather than specific
product development, many CEO's rely on education in finance, business and management to do
their jobs. A highly sought-after degree for those who want to go into top-level management is a

master's in business administration. An MBA is a broad degree that helps people learn corporate
management skills rather than specific professional knowledge, such as chemical engineering,
advertising or mathematics degree.
Average SalaryBased on PayScale.com, six-figure salaries are the norm for Chief Executive Officers in
the United States, with median pay hovering hovering around $170K per year. In the world of
Chief Executive Officers, total cash compensation ranges from $76K on the lower end to $437K
on the higher end; this includes bonuses that reach $149K and profit sharing that approaches
$138K in rare cases, with some high rollers snagging commissions as high as $101K. Career
length and the particular city each impact pay for this group, with the former having the largest
influence. Medical benefits are awarded to a large number, and more than half earn dental
coverage. Most people in this field find their work highly enjoyable.
Career OutlookI am thinking for me to pursue a career in this was at first when I started this class very
likely, but now I have kind of strayed away from it as I have gone through this class and learned
about other careers. I have always loved the title of just being the CEO of a company but all the
responsibilities that I have outlined in this paper that come with it are very "big" for me at the
moment. I would really have to have passion to be leader and buckle down now and start getting
the degrees and certifications for business. There is also a lot of specific skills you have to learn
like communication, leading and engineering for a CEO spot so that is something you have to
take into account and make sure you have down.

Bio of someone in the profession-

I had a great opportunity to interview a CEO named Kevin Charlton he is a Managing

Partner/Founder of River Hollow Partners. River Hollow Partners is a lower mid-market private
equity firm focused on companies with enterprise values up to $100MM manufacturing,
distribution, energy services, consumer products and retail sectors. His responsibilities entail all
the responsibilities of any CEO, like making final decisions, communicating with investors and
develops strong relationships with management teams. Kevin has served on more than twenty
Boards of Directors in all relevant roles, and in almost all cases Chairman or Lead Director on
behalf of the majority owner. He received his BSE Cum Laude from Princeton University, his
MSE with Distinction from the University of Michigan. Kevin has successfully taken companies
public, sold to strategic and financial investors, and maximized value through the staged exit to
separate buyers. This includes companies in aerospace, automotive, playground manufacturing,
sporting goods, housewares, gourmet goods, industrial fabric, water infrastructure, petroleum
drilling tools, bunkering and heavy duty trucks parts distribution. Kevin spent three years in the
Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Kevin Charlton's company is
based in Manhattan, New York and since being a east coast CEO he does make a good salary and
he loves his job as a CEO.
Pros and ConsOn the website inc.com is states a list of pros and cons of being a CEO, and starting off
one pro of being one is you decide the strategy and what's important. A major con is you will
work harder than ever before, being a CEO is no joke you have all the business resting on your
shoulders. Another con is everything is entirely up to you and you have no one else to turn to but
yourself and I feel like that probably deters a lot of people away from it. One last pro is you get

to hire your own team to staff your company and that can help a work environment a lot and
really determine if you like your CEO position or not.
Your "fit" with this careerI feel like my "fit" for this career is very slim as I addressed in the career outlook section.
Being a Chief Executive Officer is a very important position and the framework of a company
and I am not sure if I would want a career in that is what lies on my shoulders everyday. I like to
think of myself as a pretty good people's person but I just dont think my communication skills
are as good as what is expected with all the communication this career entails. Overall I believe I
am not as suited for this career as I thought I would like to be and so I am happy for doing this
essay because all the research opened my eyes and made me realize I want to pursue a different
career.

Sources
Herscher, P. (n.d.). Top 5 Reasons You Do, and Don't, Want to be CEO of Your Own Startup.
Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/penny-herscher/top-5-reasons-you-do-and-don-t-want-to-beceo-of-your-own-startup.html

Heathfield, S. B. (October 5). What does a chief executive officer do?

Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/what-does-a-chief-executiveofficer-ceo-do-1918528
Hardesty, N. (2010, October 22). Entry-Level To CEO: 11 Corporate Titans
Who Started At The Bottom. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/22/entrylevel-to-ceo-people_n_772308.html
T. (2013, September 9). From Intern To CEO: How 3 Execs Climbed To The
Top. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymuse/2013/09/09/fromintern-to-ceo-how-3-execs-climbed-to-the-top/#4277769415da
Eshe-Edmunds, S. (n.d.). College Education Requirements for Top Chief
Executive Officers. Retrieved from http://work.chron.com/college-educationrequirements-top-chief-executive-officers-4795.html
P. (n.d.). Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Salary. Retrieved from
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chief_Executive_Officer_(CEO)/Sal
ary
Interview: Charlton, K. Chief Executive Officer of River Hollow Partner