The job of a Chief Executive Officer brings with it power, great salaries, and of course, the often envious task of being the boss. CEOs need to be good at what they do, and what they do does involve a great measure of responsibilities. Most of all, in order to be successful, a CEO needs to be able to perform every task well. Right from startup to the success or failure of the company, the CEO is responsible. Whether it is operations, finance and budgeting, marketing, human resources, hiring and firing of employees, and more, the CEO is responsible for every aspect of the business. Even though there may be functional managers looking into the running of various departments, the ultimate responsibility does fall on the CEO. On the other hand, there are several areas such as creating a corporate culture and building a core senior management team, which can only be handled by a CEO. Fund raising is also considered an important task to be handled by the CEO. However, it is turning these funds into profits that is the main job of a CEO.

A CEO with vision can set the direction for any strategy. The decision of what markets to enter, product lines to introduce, and partnerships to form, are all in the hands of the CEO. These, along with budgeting and hiring of a core team, can be said to be the main duties of a CEO. Another important task is to build up a corporate culture that will keep employees motivated. A poor working environment will only drive away employees. However, a CEO needs to ensure his or her employees of positive working environment. Every action or inaction by a CEO sends out signals that employees are good at 'decoding'. This will help shape the culture of the organization powerfully.

Communication is another key to success for a CEO. Whether it is with clients or employees, he or she needs strong communicating skills. Congratulating the team on completing successful tasks will go a long way in preserving the loyalty of every employee. Every decision that the company makes needs to be communicated to the public and employees by the CEO, which is why he or she needs to be keep communication lines open at all time.

Everyone employee needs to be a team worker, while every CEO ought to be good at team-building. Hiring good performers and getting rid of non-performers especially at the senior management level does lie in the hands of the CEO. Even differences between team members ought to be resolved without having to hurt an employee or the company significantly.

Every CEO knows that setting the company and its employees in the right direction involves communication of the strategy and company's vision. Without doubt, strategy will set the direction for the team to work together and stay together. A company's values are what will drive its vision, which needs to be conveyed by the CEO through his or her actions. There is much more to the job of a CEO. Hard work and leadership skills are what will help you succeed, if you want to reach the top.