I’ll start by covering my ass.  Many of the skills and the knowledge base that you’ll need will be specific to the organisation you’ll be leading. With that caveat in place, there are some skills that every effective CEO needs. A smattering of HR, a grounding in the law and the ability to make decisions to start with.

Being able to clearly explain to the people working for you on what you need them to do and then ensuring that they have correctly understood you is vital.  Oddly, it is often completely overlooked. This is particularly so in professional organisations where people are promoted beyond the point where their expertise in, say, accounting, marketing or engineering is relevant. What they really need is to learn management – a skill set in its own right.

One of the activities that is often over-emphasised is dealing with the media. You should be able to do it well, but you should not necessarily be looking to do it constantly. We tend to get fascinated by the bosses who make a lot of noise in the media. But we should realise that the best of them are doing so to support their business, not just to be there.

And covering your ass should neither be a skill to aspire to nor an instinct to be encouraged. Not if you really want to lead. Not if you care about the company you’ve just taken over.

Eoghan McDermott is Director of Careers, The Communication Clinic . www.communicationsclinic.ie