Eight things employees want from a CEO

After working with more than 100 CEOs, Melissa Raffoni, Faculty at MIT's Sloan School and Harvard's Kennedy School has created a list of what employees want their leaders to do.

She says that while interacting with CEOs, she often reminds the CEOs that leading takes time and energy. Directing the feelings, attitudes, actions, and behaviors of a team is a big task. Often, she also hears the secrets of these CEOs' employees, about what truly aggravates them and what they love about their bosses.

Here is the list of what employees want their leaders to do.

1. Tell me my role, tell me what to do, and give me the rules. Micromanaging? No, it's called clear direction. Give them parameters so they can work within broad outlines.

2. Discipline my coworker who is out of line. Time and time again, I hear, "I wish my boss would tell Nancy that this is just unacceptable." Hold people accountable in a way that is fair but makes everyone cognizant of what is and isn't acceptable.

3. Get me excited. About the company, about the product, about the job, about a project. Just get them excited.

4. Don't forget to praise me. Motivate employees by leveraging their strengths, not harping on their weaknesses.

5. Don't scare me. They really don't need to know about everything that worries you. They respect that you trust them, but you are the boss. And don't lose your temper at meetings because they didn't meet your expectations. It's often not productive. Fairness and consistency are important mainstays.

6. Impress me. Strong leaders impress their staffs in a variety of ways. Yes, some are great examples of management, but others are bold and courageous, and still others are creative and smart. Strong leaders bring strength to an organization by providing a characteristic that others don't have and the company sorely needs.

7. Give me some autonomy. Give them something interesting to work on. Trust them with opportunity.

8. Set me up to win. Nobody wants to fail. Indecisive leaders who keep people in the wrong roles, set unrealistic goals, keep unproductive team members, or change direction unfairly just frustrate everybody and make people feel defeated.

Top 10 IT certifications in demand

IT certifications have always been popular among IT pros to bag the right job or seek the right jump. With the economy back in green, IT jobs too are back. Keeping this in mind, technology research firm Foote Partners recently listed IT certifications that could be considered "hot" in the coming months.

VMware Certified Professional: With virtualization technology becoming hot, it is little surprising that VCP program is in demand. Research shows that enterprises often face lack of required expertise specific to virtualization.

Certified Information Systems Auditor: CISA is a professional certification for Information technology audit professionals sponsored by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Candidates for the certification must meet requirements set by ISACA.

GIAC Security Audit Essentials: This is for professionals planning to enter the information security industry who are tasked with auditing organization policy, procedure, risk, or policy conformance.

Certified Information Security Manager: CISM is a certification for information security managers awarded by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).

Check Point Certified Security Expert: Designed for experienced security professionals, Check Point CCSE certification is claimed to be one of the most respected vendor-specific security certification. CCSE is an advanced Core security certification built on CCSA NGX, confirming in-depth skills and expertise in managing and supporting Check Point products.

Check Point Certified Security Administrator: Another Check Point-specific certification, CCSA aims to validate a security administrator's ability to maintain day-to-day operation of vendor's security solutions and ensure secure access to information across the network.

Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (Security): MCSE certification provides an individual's skills in designing, implementing, and administering infrastructure for business solutions based on Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server.

Certified Wireless Security Professional: CWSP is claimed to be an advanced level certification that measures the ability to secure any wireless network. A wide range of security topics focusing on the 802.11 wireless LAN technology are covered in the coursework and exam, which is vendor neutral.

GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst: GCIA is an information security certification entity that specialises in technical and practical certification as well as new research in the form of its GIAC Gold program. SANS Institute founded the certification in 1999.

Cisco Certified Network Professional: Another vendor specific certification, Cisco Certified Network Professional or CCNP aims to validate the ability to plan, implement, verify and troubleshoot local and wide-area enterprise networks and work collaboratively with specialists on advanced security, voice, wireless and video solutions.