In the workplace, the way the top management behaves has a powerful effect on the rest of the company. Bad leadership can trickle down and have negative repercussions on employees, but good leadership has the potential to do the opposite and build a positive company culture.

CareerBliss, an online career community focused on helping people find happier jobs, conducted a recent study to find the “Happiest CEOs of 2012.” CareerBliss looked at 10,000 reviews from people from more than 3,400 companies to determine which leaders ranked highest with employees. Employees were asked to rank their CEO on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 meaning they were unhappy with the CEO’s vision and leadership, 5 meaning they were very happy with the CEO in those respects).

Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm, earned the top spot, followed by the CEOs of KBR, Amazon and FedEx (you can see the list of the top 10 here).

Leadership Skills Influence Company Culture

The study points out that there is a correlation between CEO rankings and overall company happiness. CEOs with strong leadership skills and a clear vision for the company are able to communicate these qualities to their employees, creating a positive company culture.

From CareerBliss:

“Overall company ratings and CEO ratings are linked, as employees tend to hold the CEO somewhat responsible for their work conditions,” says Bradley Brummel, Ph.D., who specializes in workplace psychology. “A good CEO has the potential to enhance overall evaluations while a poor one can make an otherwise positive work environment seem bleak. CEOs with the most visibility are likely to have the most influence in overall company ratings, for better or worse.”

As a leader, your behavior and values have a lasting influence on the people you manage. When you set a positive example for your employes through your actions, you are modeling the type of leadership you want to see in the workplace.

How do you think you would rank if your employees participated in this study? Learn how you can develop your leadership skills and improve your company culture in the process.

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