Your route to CEO

I'm often asked by people what separates out those people who rise to the top, who secure the coveted position of CEO from the rest of the bunch.

For many being appointed or shall we say anointed CEO is the ultimate ambition however for majority of people this is a prize which will elude them.

While the subject here is to outline how you can get to the top job, the information it contains will be relevant to any person interested in progressing their career. It will help to middle or senior managers looking to move up to the next / top level.

Expectations of CEOs have changed in the last few years, they used to be primarily focused on delivering shareholder value today high on their agendas is developing and maintaining a culture which values employees and is socially and environmentally responsible. Read on and find out more…

So how do you secure the Top job?

You’ll need a comprehensive set of credentials including experience, track record and character together with the right set of circumstances – timing and luck.

The breadth and depth of experience required of a CEO means that your managerial and leadership career development, and progression will require cadence.

In most companies there will be several management layers to progress through to get to the top job; don’t expect that you will be able skip a few levels. If you are re-active, you’ll potentially miss chances, and time and opportunity will pass you by. If you are proactive and actively seek promotions and opportunities to broaden your experience, you will be much more likely to succeed. 

If your goals are ones based on pursuing seniority, you need to be cognizant to be moving up the ladder at an appropriate speed – in which case you need to have spent sufficient time developing your skills, credentials and track record at one level, before moving on to the next.

And this is likely to mean, avoiding remaining at any one level for too long – perhaps upwards of 3 or 5 years.

What is the role of CEO?

The specific responsibilities of a CEO / Managing Director will be determined by the organization’s board of directors, or the owner if the business is privately held.

The goals and expectations of the shareholders / owners for a business will be subject to timescales, and may be set for intervals of, say, one year, two years, five years, and / or ten years – and they will most likely be subject to change.

A CEO would usually be expected to be responsible for the profit and loss (P&L) of the business, financial reporting, and overseeing (through his or her team) not only the core business functions, which massively affect business results, (sales, operations, finance and accounting, human resources) but also governance, risk and compliance.

Both the appointment of the CEO and the nature of the role are likely to be heavily influenced by whatever agenda the organisation is pursuing grow, buy or sell. Bear in mind that the overall agenda might either have more than one possible intended outcomes running in tandem and / or be subject to change.

A grow agenda is one that relates to organic growth; a buy agenda involves the acquisition of other companies; and sell agenda relates to a strategy of selling out the firm, or parts of it, to another company or companies.

Regardless of any Buy, Grow or Sell agenda – which are all subject to circumstances beyond the control of the CEO there will be a consistent objective to create and sustain the value of the business short, mid and importantly long term.

The more senior the role, the more dependent you are on getting things done by others and for a CEO the greatest challenge (and opportunity) is ordinarily that of driving cultural change.

At senior levels, your most important decisions will be people ones.

What’s the difference between Leadership and Management?

? Leadership is about determining direction or vision and strategy for a group, which the group will subsequently follow; i.e. a leader will outline a vision and determine goals and objectives. The successful CEO surrounds himself or herself with great people who don’t need to be micro-managed. And he or she will execute plans through multiple business units and teams, and keep the company headed in the right direction.

? Management is about putting into effect the people / team and resources to deliver those goals which have already been established. Management is about getting things done. This includes setting operational direction, and organising resources to maximise performance, drive optimisation and efficiency. 

Most typical CEO backgrounds

Some 30% of CEOs have finance and accounting backgrounds, 20% of CEOs originate from sales or marketing and otherwise are likely to come from Operations.

An operations background being one from within an employers’ core line of business, so for example:

Manufacturing firms: people with operational backgrounds; engineering, production, design, etc. – who understand the complexity of such a business, when combined with commercial / senior management experience – may see career progression from engineer, manager, senior manager, COO, and ultimately to CEO.

Similarly in professional services firms: people with backgrounds in the firm’s specialist area will rise to the top job, for example HR services firms a HR professional could realistically assume the top job, in a legal businesses a lawyer would do so, in a management consultancy a consultant would do so and likely in IT, an IT project manager could rise to the top.  

Some firms are marketing led, so for example in CPG companies’ marketeers often rise to the top.

COO as successor.

Chief Operating Officers are often the CEO in waiting.

The second in command in most organisations is the COO and his or her remit varies significantly from one industry to another and according the needs / preferences of the CEO, common mandates include:

·        The pursuit of a strategic objective on behalf of the CEO, or example the pursuit of an acquisition or sale of the business

·        Responsibility for the core operations of a business for example manufacturing, logistics, service delivery, procurement, supply chain, HR and global operations.

·        In some cases, a CEO will give a COO responsibility to drive a very firm performance of key business metrics – for example the revenue number.

·        Another regular strategic objective being for the COO to drive change or a mission through the organisations, cascading through hierarchies and departments to the lower ranking staff.

·        Often individuals are appointed to a role of COO to avoid the business losing the person and with the intention that the person is able to assume a new, more challenging and more senior role – or in the knowledge they are being lined up to succeed the CEO.

|          A strong track record.

With few exceptions, CEOs will have a previous record of being an agent of change and able to evidence a strong track record of performance to include:

·        Customer focus, and of exceeding sales / revenue targets

·        Ownership and success of managing, and operating within budgets

·        Leadership, creating a culture of success and great place to work.

·        Making change happen

·        An affinity and familiarity with corporate and social responsibility, and increasingly experience of over-seeing such programs.

|          Cross functional expertise.

There’s a difference between CEO and other CXO positions.

This being that a CEO is managing multiple functional lines of business whereas other CXO roles would be managing one single area i.e. Finance & Accounting, Sales, Distribution, Manufacturing, Customer Service, IT or HR.

|          CEO level accomplishments.

Approximately half of Chief Executives have had board experience before securing the top job.

It’s possible to gain this with your employer or outside of the company as a non-exec director or in a not for profit organization in which you can build experience in areas like strategy, corporate governance, and develop leadership visibility / status.

If your expertise is in a non-core business function i.e. HR, IT, admin or customer services, you may wish to consider moving into a company in which your core expertise is their core business – for example an HR professional moving into an HR Consulting or HR Outsourcing firm.

Good degree, good college. Invariably employers will look for someone with a degree in a discipline which has relevance to the demands of the role / and / or the company’s line of business.

And whilst an MBA qualification won’t guarantee you a CEO seat it will equip you to be better positioned to secure it.

You’ve got to develop financial acumen, be being capable and proven in managing targets and operational budgets – which means having experience and being able to show evidence of competence.

Requiring credentials in respect to business plans, financial planning and implementing projects, and training / certificates in general management and finance from a high-profile business school will make for a stronger CEO candidate.

|          Alignment.

Rightly or wrongly, decisions are not based on facts or merit alone anyone who ignores this will be powerless you have got to be correctly aligned with the key decision makers.

You should set clear goals about aligning yourself well not only in the senior management team but importantly also with other stakeholders for example Chairman or Chairwoman, investors or board of directors.

You’ll need a good people network, a strong executive presence (a personal brand commensurate with CEO status) and both high IQ, and EQ.

|          Emotional intelligence.

Emotional quotient (EQ) is a measurement of emotional intelligence – successful CEOs have both high IQs and EQs.

You’re chances of being promoted to CEO are likely to be elevated with help, support and coaching from trusted advisers with experience of holding similar positions than you will in a solo pursuit of the top job.

Working with a suitably qualified executive coach, he or she, is likely to be able to help you to better navigate your way through challenges acting as a thinking partner, helping you identify any blind spots, to make better decisions and ordinarily an outcome of working with a coach – is the development of emotional intelligence.

Robert Tearle Consulting is a boutique headhunting firm, specialising in recruiting into positions based London with tech and digital vendors. Typical searches are for "C" suite execs in GM, Sales, Consulting & COO and senior level sales / consultants with basic salaries ordinarily in a range of ￡100-175k.

If you have any queries please email [email protected]