It's hard being a CEO. Every decision impacts financial health, employee morale, and stakeholder satisfaction. To succeed, you’ll need a good CFO. And you’ll need to Master Strategic Management. Here are 15 key areas that a CEO should focus on, to help you track your learning, your progress or your performance: 1. Vision and Strategy Development: map the future, ensure alignment with strategic vision, and develop long-term strategies to achieve goals 2,. Leadership and Organizational Culture: create a positive and productive organizational culture 3. Financial Management: oversee the company's financial health 4. Corporate Governance: ensure adherence to the highest standards of governance 5. Risk Management: identify potential risks to the company and ensure it has systems in place to mitigate them 6. Operational Efficiency: streamline operations, improve productivity, and promote innovation 7. Talent Management: ensure the right people are in the right roles to effectively drive the strategic plan 8. Customer Focus: foster a customer-centric approach across all department, to understand and meet customer needs 9. Investor Relations: maintain strong relationships with investors, shareholders, and financial analysts 10. Brand Reputation and Image: act as the face of the company, and ensure their actions reflect positively on the brand 11. Innovation and Technology: foster a culture of innovation to gain and retain competitive advantages 12. Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility: balance the drive for profit with the need for ethical and sustainable operations 13. Stakeholder Management: manage relationships with various stakeholders 14. Mergers and Acquisitions: evaluate opportunities for growth via mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, or joint ventures, and oversee their successful execution. 15. Business Continuity and Succession Planning: develop and implement a comprehensive business continuity plan Source article & image: Oana Labes, MBA, CPA ; LinkedIn