CEOs around the world are focusing on execution over profit and top-line growth, The Conference Board reported in “CEO Challenge 2007: Top 10 Challenges”, a survey of 769 CEOs from 40 countries.

Chief executives chose excellence of execution as their top challenge when asked to rate their greatest concerns from among 121 challenges. Sustained top-line growth, which was the top concern for CEOs last year, came in second, and keeping consistent execution of strategy by top management was third, followed by profit growth. Finding qualified managers was their fifth-ranked concern.

“This year’s overall top challenge shows that CEOs from around the world are realizing that strong execution is a critical factor in driving profits and revenues,” says Jonathan Spector, president and CEO of The Conference Board. “These executives are also becoming increasingly aware of the crucial role that people play in growing their companies.”

Concerns about finding qualified managers (ranked sixth) and top management succession (seventh) have become American CEOs’ top human resources issues, replacing last year’s concerns about health-care costs. The new concerns will become even stronger as many Baby Boomers depart from the “top of the house” to move into “third-stage careers” and retirement. Though health-care issues have dropped slightly (now 16th place), they are still a much greater concern for U.S. CEOs compared with those in Asia (69th place) and Europe (tied for 71st place).