What does an executive do?
An Executive's responsibilities vary depending on an organization or company. However, most of the time, it involves a great deal of leadership and communication. An Executive must oversee and direct employees towards particular sets of goals and vision, create strategies and plans that will benefit the company's financial gains and workforce, and as well as evaluate and analyze the progress of various company departments. Moreover, an Executive holds the power of decision-making, such as in the aspects of budget, promotions, and policies.
Executive responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real executive resumes:
- Manage capital investments and operating costs to generate ROI, IRR and cash flow.
- Facilitate KPI dashboard for actual performance to forecast/targets and drive action plans to achieve them.
- Manage reputation for search engine optimization, and reputation of website and business as a whole through SEO.
- Manage several multi-phase DoD programs and projects simultaneously.
- Manage events for fundraising, donor recognition and alumni relations.
- Delegate & execute human resources, payroll management, marketing/sales techniques training & development.
- Practice focuse on ERISA and tax matters.
- Prepare elaborate spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and translations.
- Transfer current BMS employees into the department as required.
- Develop menus and work with the culinary teams and management during production.
- Coordinate events, creating invitations and promotional materials, and booking venues.
- Use of professional administrative skills and BMS applications on a daily basis.
- Design new employee orientation PowerPoint and conduct all new employee orientations for the property.
- Install AppDynamics APM agent on the linux host and instrument the configuration settings with controller.
- Develop an array of different selling techniques base on the client's needs, budget and ROI.
Executive skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Executives are proficient in Customer Service, Digital Transformation, and Healthcare. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Management skills, and Time-management skills.
We break down the percentage of Executives that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 20%
Explained procedures and call flows to representatives that required alternatives for providing excellent customer service and successful collections.
- Digital Transformation, 15%
Delivered advisory and consulting projects to large enterprise clients across cognitive/advanced analytics, digital transformation, employee & customer experience.
- Healthcare, 10%
Target audience is the Fortune 500 and vertical markets including Financial Services, Insurance, HealthCare, Energy and Retail.
- Customer Satisfaction, 8%
Deliver exceptional customer satisfaction through communication skills and listening to the customer's needs via surveys utilizing Net Promoter Score concepts.
- Financial Statements, 5%
Processed and compiled periodic financial statements in accordance with the applicable accounting framework and computation of tax liabilities and tax assessments.
- Business Development, 4%
Speak at press conferences for state and local politicians and lobbying organizations offering solutions for transportation needs and small business development.
"customer service," "digital transformation," and "healthcare" are among the most common skills that executives use at work. You can find even more executive responsibilities below, including:
Leadership skills. The most essential soft skill for an executive to carry out their responsibilities is leadership skills. This skill is important for the role because "top executives must be able to shape and direct an organization by coordinating policies, people, and resources." Additionally, an executive resume shows how their duties depend on leadership skills: "supported various leadership functions including hr, logistics, sales floor, assets protection, and more. "
Time-management skills. executives are also known for time-management skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to executive responsibilities, because "top executives do many tasks concurrently to ensure that their work gets done and that the organization meets its goals." An executive resume example shows how time-management skills is used in the workplace: "orchestrated on time and on budget launches of erp and crm solutions. "
Communication skills. A big part of what executives do relies on "communication skills." You can see how essential it is to executive responsibilities because "top executives must be able to convey information clearly and persuasively." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical executive tasks: "leveraged vendor contract to convert additional services, including erp, private communication platform, and private cloud network. "
Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for executive responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of executives all the time, as "top executives need to identify and resolve issues within an organization." An excerpt from a real executive resume shows how this skill is central to what an executive does: "develop in the areas of: enterprise resource planning (erp), mobile solution services (mss). "
The three companies that hire the most executives are:
- Bank of America132 executives jobs
- MassMutual104 executives jobs
- Applied Materials66 executives jobs
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Compare different executives
Executive vs. Managing administrator
A managing administrator is responsible for monitoring business operations by ensuring the efficiency of administrative functions, delegating tasks to administrative staff, and tracking project deliverables. Managing administrators respond to the clients' inquiries and complaints, directing them to appropriate personnel to address their concerns. They also handle the budget for the administrative department, allocating adequate resources, and maintaining the office inventory. A managing administrator must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially on training new staff and teaching best practices for maximum productivity.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, executive responsibilities require skills like "digital transformation," "healthcare," "customer satisfaction," and "financial statements." Meanwhile a typical managing administrator has skills in areas such as "oversight," "administrative functions," "salesforce," and "project management." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, managing administrators reach similar levels of education than executives. Managing administrators are 3.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Executive vs. Coordinator
Coordinators are responsible for liaising between the department they are assigned to and any other external party. They oversee projects or agreements. They are in charge of following through negotiations between the two parties regarding work. They see through the conduct of such contracts by ensuring that all terms are amenable to both parties. They maintain records and other necessary data and paperwork. They also ensure that office policy and guidelines are being followed. Coordinators also ensure that all projects are completed efficiently and effectively.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, executive responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "digital transformation," "healthcare," "customer satisfaction," and "financial statements." Meanwhile, a coordinator has duties that require skills in areas such as "patients," "excellent organizational," "data entry," and "excellent guest." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Coordinators earn similar levels of education than executives in general. They're 3.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Executive vs. Co-owner
A co-owner is responsible for ensuring smooth business operations, searching for the best industrial opportunities to drive revenues and increase profitability. Some of the business co-owners' duties include planning activities for business promotions, monitoring current market trends, establishing a reliable workforce, developing product specifications, managing financial goals and cost estimates, strengthening marketing strategies, and keeping records of business papers and documents. A co-owner should have excellent leadership, communication, and decision-making skills to secure business growth and success.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an executive is likely to be skilled in "digital transformation," "healthcare," "customer satisfaction," and "payroll," while a typical co-owner is skilled in "quickbooks," "graphic design," "customer relations," and "business operations."
When it comes to education, co-owners tend to earn lower degree levels compared to executives. In fact, they're 6.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Executive vs. Assistant vice president
An assistant vice president is responsible for supporting the company's strategies and procedures for growth and development, working alongside the board executives. Assistant vice presidents should ensure that all the company's policies and legal procedures comply with all employees. They also supervise every operations department's head to ensure the smooth flow of business processes, providing additional assistance and resources as needed. Assistant vice presidents also monitor the company's expenses and sales goals to improve the business' performance and profitability.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between executives and assistant vice presidents, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an executive might have more use for skills like "digital transformation," "healthcare," "payroll," and "human resources." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of assistant vice presidents require skills like "avp," "risk management," "project management," and "oversight. "
Assistant vice presidents reach similar levels of education compared to executives, in general. The difference is that they're 2.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of executive
Updated January 8, 2025
