What it takes to be a successful CEO in Hong Kong

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Taking the next step to becoming a top CEO is the ultimate for many ambitious business professionals. Not only are they extremely well compensated but they also get to determine the strategy and the vision of the organisation.

While there are no hard-and-fast rules about making it to the top job, there are nonetheless certain attributes that define a successful leader in Hong Kong, particularly in Hang Seng Index (HSI)-listed companies.

International exposure, company loyalty and a tertiary education are non-negotiables, as are a strong grasp of finance and a sound understanding of technology, especially with the city positioning itself as a regional fintech leader.

“It is apparent that being a successful business leader depends on skills such as strategic thinking, business acumen, communication and people management,” said Elaine Lam, associate director at Robert Half Hong Kong.

“Looking to a future defined by its rate of rapid change and unforeseeable technological development, other skills have come to the forefront and become increasingly important. Being innovative and having dynamic problem-solving skills and technical expertise have also become pre-requisite traits for CEOs in today’s market,” she added.

Getting the ball rolling for any aspiring CEO begins with a solid tertiary education. According to research from Robert Half, while the educational backgrounds of Hong Kong CEOs vary widely, the three most common are Bachelor of Science (13%), Bachelor of Economics (10%) and Bachelor of Arts (6%).

In terms of postgraduate degrees held by HSI-listed CEOs, 26% have a PhD, 25% have an MBA and 11% hold a Master of Economics.  

For a list of the top 10 MBA programmes for 2019 – both globally and regionally – click here.

“While an MBA is internationally perceived as the must-have postgraduate degree to climb to a top management position, there are more postgraduate degrees that will benefit (a person’s) career and help them reach the C-suite position in a company,” said Lam.

“Any postgraduate degree can be useful for winning a senior management role as it gives the individual a broad overview of how all the different parts of a business interact and work together.”