What is a CEO Personality and Does Larry Page Have It?

On Monday, Larry Page took the helm at Google (again). Now that it’s been a decade since he was last in the chief executive seat, is he ready to head the internet giant? There has been significant criticism of Page’s leadership style. Yahoo! Finance chronicled the complaints. Rumor has it that as a CEO Larry:

1. Was aloof and rebellious

2. Pursued distracting and bizarre ideas (like building an ink jet printer out of legos)

3. Lacked management skills

4. Tuned out conversations that he did not find stimulating

These traits are all largely outside the box of a typical CEO personality. Luckily for Page (and Google) it appears as though the new CEO has grown into more of a tactful businessman thanks to Eric Schmidt. And who knows, it may be possible that some of these qualities will come in handy as Page tries to move Google away from bureaucracy and erase complacency. Will he be able to innovate (that’s kind of like rebelling, right?) and lead the company forward?

Just when are traditional CEO skills necessary and when do you step outside of the box?

Read: What Larry Page Must Do to Improve Google

Related: Where Larry Page must manage risk, and invest time, as Google’s new CEO and Larry Page sets himself up for failure at Google

ceo briefing - april 7 2011

Share
Published by
ceo briefing - april 7 2011

Recent Posts

Gas South CEO Kevin Greiner On The Value Of Being An ‘Even-Keeled’ Leader

Staying cool and consistent under pressure shows your team that you are ready to handle…

2 days ago

How To Break Up With China

A playbook for a fast-transforming world.

2 days ago

Exclusive: Jim Collins On ‘What To Make Of A Life’

Jim Collins’ most ambitious research project yet tackles the biggest questions of all.

3 days ago

AI Will Only Replace White-Collar Jobs If We Forget What Makes Us Human

The leaders who matter most in the age of AI will be the ones who,…

6 days ago

Amid Growing Economic Uncertainty, Mid-Level Managers Winning The Pay Battle 

When it comes to pay in 2026, our latest survey finds division heads and supervisors…

7 days ago

Growth Without Heroics: Building A System That Scales

The companies that scale consistently are not the ones with the most heroic individual performers.…

7 days ago