What does it actually mean to be an executive?

An executive is a person that has administrative and supervisory authority within an organisation. An executive is a type of manager in the business world, sitting at one of the highest levels of leadership of an organisation.

An executive thinks like a CEO first, their first team is the whole company. Executives have a sense of the market and how the business operates. Their particular role is the secondary consideration. An executive will spend 80% of their time thinking about what they need to accomplish and what the company needs to accomplish, they look into how the teams will need to work together to accomplish tasks and meet milestones. Only 20% of an executive's time is spent thinking about their own role.

 An executive always finds a way to success. Executives always need to look at what is best for the company and how to achieve what is best. An executive will be a model of delegation, they are very clear on what specific objectives and decisions need to be delegated. They often drive their colleagues to success, while discussing the principles that underlie those delegated tasks. An executive is usually the model of the company.

Executives coach their team, so rather than thinking about individual contributors’ tasks they spend more time coaching colleagues on how to work at a high standard and as time efficient as possible. They know what it will take for the company to win and are consistently tracking their functional area or assisting in another.