Getting up early, wearing the same clothes every day, eating eggs for breakfast… there are various thing we're told CEOs do that may hold the keys to their success.

 

早早起床，每天穿一样的衣服，早餐吃鸡蛋……我们得知首席执行官们做的这些五花八门的事情也许是他们成功的关键。

 

But what if the one thing the most successful have in common is in fact not something they do but the way they are?

 

The results of a new study certainly suggest this is the case. And the shared attribute? Introversion.

 

Researchers from ghSmart, a Chicago-based consultancy firm, spent ten years analysing the personalities of 2,000 CEOs and reached the conclusion that the majority of the successful ones were introverts.

 

This flies in the face of the image most people have of a typical charismatic, confident, extroverted leader.

 

The study, called the CEO Genome Project, includes a test anyone can do to find out whether they have what it takes to be a CEO.

 

To reach their conclusions, the researchers made a database of assessments, including comprehensive performance appraisals and extensive biographical information, which documented everything from behavioural patterns and demographic information to career history and previous job performance.

Reaching out to stakeholders

Being highly adaptable to change

Being reliable and predictable rather than showing exceptional, and perhaps not repeatable, performance

Making fast decisions with conviction, if not necessarily perfect ones.