Most companies realize that having a good leader in place equates to business growth. But to what extent? Well, it turns out that having executives who display three key "money skills" can lead to a significant increase in business profit, according to a new study.
It's no surprise that some of the most successful executives both past and present, including the late Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, embody these skills.
The research was conducted by DDI, a leadership assessment and development company, which looked at 1,028 senior executives from 33 large organizations worldwide.
The research found that executives who take risks, have a "shrewd business sense" and are effective at quickly making decisions led to the following benefits: an increase in their company's profit as well as the ability to better engage employees with their ideas.
According to the research, here are three "money skills" that matter the most if you want to be a successful executive:
1. Taking entrepreneurial risks
Business leaders must be able to craft plans and jump on business opportunities as they make themselves available. Employers can tap into these entrepreneurial skills by allowing their leadership to take business risks within the company, says the study.
Amazon founder Bezos found success by daring to take bold risks. Now, he pushes his employees to do the same by allowing them to think like owners.
In a 2016 letter to his shareholders, Bezos calls Amazon the "best place in the world to fail at, adding that negative outcomes are unavoidable in experimentation. "Given a 10 percent chance of a 100 times payoff," says Bezos, "you should take that bet every time."
2. Developing a shrewd business sense
Senior executives should be able to quickly and accurately size up the merits and risks in complex business scenarios, the study finds. Having strong intuition is necessary to effectively navigate tricky business decisions.
In fact, Jobs, the late Apple founder, attributed his extraordinary success to this vital trait. He even called intuition more important than intellect when it comes to having business savvy.
3. Becoming an effective decision maker
Executives should be able to make day-to-day judgments about short-term issues, which in turn enhances productivity levels, the study suggests. A great way to make effective decisions? By relentlessly prioritizing a company's goals and being productive each day.
Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, says his number one tip for getting things done is to "focus on signal over noise." "Don't waste time on stuff that doesn't actually make things better," says Musk.
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