Should Corporate CEO's be college graduates and have a degree?

The big thing is people must understand those with a college degree, those with experience, those who are smart and those that can practically apply experience & education are all different things.

In my years I noticed many corporations or management simply want someone who are not afraid to make a decision and accept responsibility for it ie all the golden parachutes. There is a mindset the ability to make a decision without hesitation is the primary characteristic of a good manager. Some feel management should know how, when or who to delegate to is the biggest qualification. Others feel just let the qualified people do their job untethered.

But a good leader will have a plan. They will think about & account for potential consequences. Leadership or management should be the ones keeping a company out of trouble and/or going forward/making profit with all desired qualities.

The being said it's back to or knowing that an education, a degree, experience and/or ability are all different things.
 

Not if they inherit the company from daddy...OR if they founded the company themselves.. But seriously... I would say no... because it's not as important of a job as President... and it would be up to the individual corporation who they want as their leader.
 
I totally agree with WhatinThe.
i have a degree, and a professional qualification, but was not a very good manager, or leader; I always thought I could do everything better tha anybody else; and I usually could.
but that is not a leadership or management quality....
i could make decisions...but one needs to be able to make relevant decisions; quickly and correctly, and bring people with one; most people are resistant to change, but change is very necessary now.
remember back to when computers first appeared; and all those people who said they would never use one?
that kind of change, drive, and smartness is what a CEO needs; IMO
 
That is between their employer and them. I have seen some really dumb college graduates, and knows some very smart people with an 8th grade education.
 
Want to know what gets the job with the high salaries today..........Education and Looks! That's right. A nice college degree and great looks. Just look at the ladies on HLN and CNN. Same goes for the guys.....Education and Looks.

In other words the "Hottie" with the college degree will get the really nice paying job!!
 
GeneMO said:
That is between their employer and them. I have seen some really dumb college graduates, and knows some very smart people with an 8th grade education.
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And I know a lot of briliant college graduates and some real dumbass highschool dropouts... SO??? Guess it depends which crowd you hang with..

Getting a bit sick of the reverse snobbism and veiled insults....
 
ClassicRockr said:
Want to know what gets the job with the high salaries today..........Education and Looks! That's right. A nice college degree and great looks. Just look at the ladies on HLN and CNN. Same goes for the guys.....Education and Looks.

In other words the "Hottie" with the college degree will get the really nice paying job!!
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I have to agree with you there...
 
A good CEO has the ability to not only lead, but has to have a vision for the company. A CEO also has to know how to surround herself/himself with talented, intelligent people who know how to make the vision happen.

Some people can learn it through college and experience. Some people never get it-they just aren't wired like that. However, every once in a while someone comes along that has the natural gift/talent and makes it to the top. Richard Branson, John Paul DeJoria, Michael Dell, Barry Diller and Bill Gates all are extremely successful CEOs, and none of them have a degree-they either dropped out or never went to college. I don't know if it's luck, sheer determination, or a natural talent, but they've all made it to the top.

I can say that I never would have been able to start my own business without what I learned in college and the doors it opened for me to expand my skills. I like to think that I would have succeeded without higher education, but life would have been very, very different without it. And to top it off, without college I never would have met my wife; that in itself was worth every penny of the tuition.
 
DoItMyself said:
A good CEO has the ability to not only lead, but has to have a vision for the company. A CEO also has to know how to surround herself/himself with talented, intelligent people who know how to make the vision happen.

Some people can learn it through college and experience. Some people never get it-they just aren't wired like that. However, every once in a while someone comes along that has the natural gift/talent and makes it to the top. Richard Branson, John Paul DeJoria, Michael Dell, Barry Diller and Bill Gates all are extremely successful CEOs, and none of them have a degree-they either dropped out or never went to college. I don't know if it's luck, sheer determination, or a natural talent, but they've all made it to the top.

I can say that I never would have been able to start my own business without what I learned in college and the doors it opened for me to expand my skills. I like to think that I would have succeeded without higher education, but life would have been very, very different without it. And to top it off, without college I never would have met my wife; that in itself was worth every penny of the tuition.
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I agree.... I have a Nursing degree... I also have a Liberal Arts degree... Of course, without the first, I never would have been able to do what I do... However, I credit my Liberal Arts degree with giving me the tools to look at the world through a broader lens... I'm not going to apologize for it.. I feel that both helped shape me and I am proud of having attended college. Do I think that everyone needs college? No.. But to downgrade it and to insult those that have may be popular with some, however, to me... it's reverse snobbism... and just as boarish as those damn "elitists" people love to hate.
 
My wife got her Bachelor's Degree in Business/Accounting from a university in 1997 when she was 49 yrs. old. She knew, without this degree, she wouldn't be able to make the salary she wanted. She also has two AA Degrees from community colleges. And, as far as "looks" goes, she had the "looks" to be an Extra in some top movies in Hollywood. She didn't have the "looks" of a Charlie's Angels (old tv show), but she was good looking. The "Extra" thing didn't last that long, because she wanted to work full-time in the Accounting industry.

As for me, I WISH that I would have continued on in college and got a degree. If I would have, I wouldn't have been stuck in the same old low-paying career that I was in for years.
 
QuickSilver said:
I also have a Liberal Arts degree
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You're in some pretty heady company with your liberal arts degree. Somewhere around 1/3 of all Fortune 500 CEOs have a liberal arts degree, and there have been a study or two that showed that people with a liberal arts degree on average earn more than most professional majors at their peak earnings ages.

It's very easy to look at the world through a very narrow lens, and I suppose that if some folks choose to view the world that way they most certainly have that right and I'll respect it and their opinions. However, I also insist that they respect my viewpoint even though they may not agree. After all, it would be a mighty boring world if we all thought exactly the same way.
 
DoItMyself said:
You're in some pretty heady company with your liberal arts degree. Somewhere around 1/3 of all Fortune 500 CEOs have a liberal arts degree, and there have been a study or two that showed that people with a liberal arts degree on average earn more than most professional majors at their peak earnings ages.

It's very easy to look at the world through a very narrow lens, and I suppose that if some folks choose to view the world that way they most certainly have that right and I'll respect it and their opinions. However, I also insist that they respect my viewpoint even though they may not agree. After all, it would be a mighty boring world if we all thought exactly the same way.
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In my case, it was my Nursing degree that brought in the paycheck and paid the bills. I had racked up enough credits during my time in college, that I was only a few courses short of being able to apply for my Lib Arts.. so I decided to do it. I took courses that interested me and that would satisfy the requirements... Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy... all the fun stuff..(at least for me) I also threw in some Business and Accounting classes..(one never knows) While nursing was the bread and butter.. the Lib Arts was the ice cream sundae.. It was learning for learning sake... and that's the best kind IMO.
 

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