Successful CEO Strategies It's proven that being a CEO is much harder than trying to become one. In recent months we have examined the reasons behind the successes and failures of some great CEO professionals. It seems that despite their different management styles, great CEOs use some common techniques. The following pages contain the golden rules of successful business leadership.1. A Master's Degree in Accounting Accounting has been described as the language of business, and every successful CEO knows how important it is to successful business leadership. A strong understanding of accounting will help any CEO understand the business problems and opportunities that arise from analyzing financial documents much more quickly. A good accounting foundation will also allow the CEO to communicate more effectively with finance staff about company investments. It is never late to master accounting knowledge and every CEO should ensure that they are updated with accounting rules and updates.2. Using Positive Reinforcement Creating the right work environment is the number one priority for every CEO. Employees at all levels must feel proud to work at the company, and the CEO must ensure that they are empowered to feel that they are adding value to the company's operations. The 80/20 golden rule can be a very useful tool to ensure that the CEO provides positive reinforcement to his employees. For every interaction with an employee, the CEO should try to say four positive things about that particular employee's work and one slightly negative thing. This way...... middle of the paper... getting around this problem means going straight to the source of the information, the lower level employees. Becoming a Level 5 CEO A Level 5 CEO is the greatest level of leadership. He is destined to build lasting business greatness through a combination of personal humility and professional will. There are many steps someone must go through before reaching this level of leadership. The journey to Level 5 business leadership can be accelerated by mastering your emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is made up of four parts: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Any career CEO needs to make sure they have put these concepts into practice on a daily basis.