In today's competitive world we find that many good companies have failed and many new companies have come into existence. Companies have failed because their CEOs failed to recognize the need to change. Their focus drifted from the three Cs - Customers, Competition and Change. Their business became history as they failed to reengineer themselves. This article explores the characteristics of successful CEOs in different economic times.

Today is an era of global competition; hence changes in any country's economy might affect your business. One has to be prepared for good and worse times. Every day, we hear corporate rationalizing human resources in order to become leaner, more efficient, and more productive so as to improve their bottom line. The discussion in most of the boardrooms is for continuous improvement (kaizen), total quality management, and the need to become globally competitive. Today, if companies are able to compete and sustain world's best performance, it is often attributed to the quality of their leaders. When successful companies report a solid return on investment, the CEO basks in adulation and respect of his peers and becomes globally known.

In today's challenging times the companies not only have to sustain its productivity but also challenge its competitors to enhance and expand it. If the CEOs have the necessary skills to achieve growth in a stagnant economy, then they can do wonders in a growing economy and we need to pay attention to what they have to say. During my tenure as CEO of different companies, I had the occasion to meet various other CEOs of India as well as global organizations. Anil Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer of The Mass Soft Inc, Boston, once said, "Change or be changed. Act or be acted upon. Your success depends upon which you choose." The message is loud and clear. Business success depends on the leader's ability to make change happen for the company, rather than have change imposed on it.

Successful CEOs in different economic times, Organisational Change, Global economy, Anil Kapoor, Mass Soft Inc, Lakshmi N Mittal, Steel industry, Ratan Tata, Tata Group, Anil D Ambani, Reliance , Nandan Nilekani, Infosys Technologies Ltd., K V Kamath, ICICI Bank, Corporate strategy, Rahul Bajaj, Bajaj, North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, Asia Pacific Economic Community forum, APEC, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , GATT.