What kind of people become ceos

We found that three types of career catapults were most common among the sprinters. Through these career catapults, executives build the specific behaviors that set successful CEOs apart — including decisiveness, reliability, adaptability, and the ability to engage for impact — and they get noticed for their accomplishments. The catapults are so powerful that even people in our study who never aspired to become CEO ultimately landed the position by pursuing one or more of these strategies.

The path to CEO rarely runs in a straight line; sometimes you have to move backward or sideways in order to get ahead. They may have started something new within their company by launching a new product or division, for example , moved to a smaller company to take on a greater set of responsibilities, or started their own business. In each case, they used the opportunity to build something from the ground up and make an outsize impact. Early in his career, he was offered the chance to build out one of the new businesses.

It felt like a demotion, or at best a lateral move, to be handed a blank org chart and a highly uncertain future. Eight months after being hired, he was offered the CFO position, leapfrogging the controller who hired him. Though he was young and still learning the ropes, he embraced the challenge with gusto. This skill goes hand-in-hand with keen leadership abilities, as CEOs must be able to facilitate this growth through the coordination of people, resources, and policies.

CEOs must have strong communication skills in order to effectively discuss and explain their vision to a wide range of individuals, from employees to board members.

Furthermore, CEOs need to be able to communicate in a manner that is not only clear, but also persuasive. They must be able to analyze situations, recognize issues, and execute successful solutions to keep the company moving in the proper direction.

These skills are often needed on a daily basis. CEOs have a lot on their plate on any given day. Therefore, they must also know how to effectively manage their time to ensure urgent tasks are handled and goals are met. The job of CEO is a high-pressure, challenging one. However, it is also one that can be lucrative. According to the U. The job outlook for the position is projected to have steady growth. The lengthy process of becoming a CEO requires formal education and plenty of on-the-job experience.

For those who choose this educational and professional path, their reward is a position that grants them the ability to make a measurable impact in the world of business. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Top Executives. Despite good pay, it may be that many of the smartest workers think that all the job pressure and uncertainty is not worth the money.

Photo: BI. April - Cognitive abilities Cognitive abilities are the brain-based skills we need to perform both simple and complex tasks, and include processes such as perception, thinking, learning, problem solving and attention. When company boards, helped by headhunting companies, go in search of new top executives, they often choose people with a lot of experience. Talent and abilities may seem to play less of a role. University of Oslo. We can also expect more engineers at the helm.

Partly, globalization is at play again. Emerging economies often put greater emphasis on engineering and science degrees, funneling more talented youngsters into those fields.

So, the likelihood that a CEO from an emerging economy is an engineer is going to be higher. Moreover, engineers tend to have an advantage when it comes to technology and digital markets.

According to Andrew Roscoe from Egon Zehnder, an executive search firm, this is one of the issues high up on the agenda of selection committees. Expect more of this! Large organizations are complicated ecosystems, proving difficult for outsiders to adapt and navigate within them. This does not mean that CEOs spent their entire career in the same company.

Some work for a few years in one of the big consulting firms. Operational experience is important, though, as a direct move from consulting to CEO is a rare exception. In fact, you're more likely to make such a move from a law firm after proving yourself by helping the firm with your legal services.

Eventually, most future CEOs move into substantial operational roles, typically running the largest division or the most important international business, before they get offered the top spot. Three-quarters of Fortune CEOs come from operations. In a recent article, Adam Kleinbaum , a professor at Dartmouth College, highlighted the potential downside of such a career trajectory.

Moving straight through the ranks of the core business translates into narrow interpersonal networks and limited opportunities to connect with people in different parts of the organization. Usually, these careers are even more confined, creating the danger of viewing the entire organization through the prism of figures.