Canadians want prime minister with CEO-like qualities: Poll

Vision and leadership more important than ‘beer buddy’

In considering the prime minister as a CEO, 89 per cent of Canadians feel vision and leadership are the most important qualifications, followed by having a long political career (73 per cent), being a consensus builder (67 per cent) and being focused on customer service (66 per cent).

"What we're hearing from Canadians is that they want a leader who has vision and leadership, who is strategic and who has a clear goal for the country and our future — qualities you'd expect a CEO to have in such an important role," said Mike Jackson, director of professional services at Monster Canada in Toronto.

"Relevant experience is always crucial in the business world and Canadians are telling us that being a lifelong politician is a valuable or desirable attribute for the country's top public servant," said Jackson. "‘Career politician’ doesn't appear to be a bad label to Canadians."

Nearly one-third (31 per cent) of the 1,002 Canadians polled said the prime minister should be strategic and the number one question they would ask the leader in a job interview is: "What is your vision for the country and for the future?"

When asked if employees should be able to vote for their CEO every four years, Canadians were split: 47 per cent said yes, 47 per cent said no.

Canadians were basically split down the middle on whether it is important to be able to sit down and have a beer or coffee with the prime minister, found Monster.ca’s survey.

"Canadians clearly prefer leadership and experience over the softer skills like being a good person to talk to over a coffee or beer," said Jackson.

However, 43 per cent of Canadians feel it's important for the prime minister to be an active tweeter.

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