As any CEO will tell you, becoming a CEO is no easy task. If this is part of your career aspiration, know it will take time, a lot of effort, various experiences outside your chosen discipline, good role models and mentors, and a little luck.
The path to becoming a CEO is largely internally driven. Soft skills, including critical thinking, motivation, discipline, learning capacity, character development, active listening, and other leadership skills are also part of the journey.
A recent article from Heidrick & Struggles digs into successful CEOs’ personal qualities and leadership skills. From their motivations to board insights to governance, what does a successful path to becoming a CEO look like?
To begin with, what drives successful CEOs to pursue the role? Is it an internal drive for achievement? Or perhaps a desire to steer the ship? The research found that the most effective CEOs don’t aspire to the role. Their motivation is the work itself. They enjoy what they do. The article highlights several successful CEOs who were not considering the role but had senior executives and board members see the potential in them.
The key to their success was their focus, enjoyment, and dedication to their current role. They built strong connections internally and left their departments in better shape than they found them. This is not to say that successful CEOs can’t be ambitious or have strong internal aspirations. Rather, these examples highlight the need for successful CEOs to be servant leaders of their communities and not ego-driven leaders who are motivated by power only.
Heidrick & Struggles Les Csorba puts it this way, “Leaders on the road to succession understand that there are two main characters in the leadership story—the hero and the guide. In our current environment, the best leaders in this story innately understand that they are never the hero but always the guide. They are committed to something bigger than themselves.”
Another element of successful CEOs is character, demonstrating values centered on the company first. Instead of focusing on their needs and being a chameleon of sorts during a period of succession planning, they are open and honest with their thoughts on the organization’s health. Focusing on the company’s short-and long-term needs can provide the board with a more objective point of view. They also tend to be more open to whoever is selected to be the CEO and less likely to depart if they are not selected. Often, they are honored and humbled to be considered.
With new and different expectations across the C-suite, Heidrick & Struggles Marie-Hélène speaks to character’s importance: “The most effective CEOs today operate like conductors. They are comfortable playing a lead role, but their real impact is in drawing out the relative strengths of each member of the orchestra. This is only possible if they have a keen view of their own abilities, the vulnerabilities of others, and a genuine caring for the contribution of the whole. These qualities shine brightly or fade in CEO candidates during the succession process.”
For many, the evolution of the CEO role has turned the expectations of the role 180 degrees. The idea of positional power has changed to the influence of a diplomat. If a CEO thinks they have arrived upon landing the role, they will most likely be unprepared for what lies ahead. They’ll need to be agile and use lateral thinking skills. They will struggle to succeed in the role without the ability to listen, communicate honestly and openly, and, most importantly, learn from others.
Leading across boundaries was an interesting capability that stood out in the research this year. “These boundaries not only are geographic but also reflect the traditions and beliefs of employees, customers, and owners. They can stretch across business units and functions within the organization and externally across sectors, competitors, and geopolitical lines.”
The authors importantly note the power that divisiveness has in eroding culture. “Thinking across boundaries, silos, borders, generations, and timeframes is the role of the CEO more than anyone else in an organization. These divisions walk in each day. The question for the CEO is how to deal with them. Answering this question well requires humility and constant learning at exactly the time one is expected to be an expert, a classic miss as people become more successful. But, expertise in the new world is, in fact, learning—and the CEO needs to be best at that.”
Another significant area on the path to becoming a CEO is corporate governance. Today’s CEOs are vetted against a wider set of ongoing criteria. This is due in no small part to the pace of technological change and the constantly evolving global socioeconomic business environment.
Some forces for CEOs and their boards include improved shareholder access, increased regulatory requirements, and handling and responding to activism. This requires companies to be more open in their succession planning process. According to the article, “In a world where only two-thirds of large companies have written, formal succession plans for the CEO and their direct reports in place, the boards in these companies actively cultivate CEO and board talent on a continuous basis, over multiple time horizons, and in a process that is open to influence and scrutiny. Sitting CEOs and internal successor candidates now expect this approach in well-governed companies. Reactive fire drills are a thing of the past.”
Many areas that lead to a successful CEO encompass soft skills development, which are difficult to track using standard data practices. However, they can be observed over time and monitored for individual development. The article provides some recommendations to help board members.
Audit and Disclose Current CEO Succession Practices
Beyond the traditional relevant experience, are you looking at each candidate’s soft skills that have become a requirement of the role in today’s business environment? Have you benchmarked your practices against companies that are successful in their succession planning? Do you seek input or feedback from other stakeholders? Are you providing succession planning information in disclosures?
Build Your Bench
Do your nominating and governance teams have a system for finding and following internal and external candidates? If so, is it kept up to date or reviewed at regular intervals? Are you actively looking for behaviors and skills that can translate to a successful CEO? As noted, many successful leaders were not actively looking to become CEOs.
Examine Leadership Capabilities Carefully
Knowing that a candidate has the experience you’re looking for has demonstrated the ability to move the business forward used to be enough. Now, it’s just the starting point. A fundamental element of a successful CEO is the ability and desire for continuous learning. If you’re unsure that a top candidate has the humility and passion to grow, keep pushing to find the ones who do.
Confirm Character During the Succession Period
The succession process has become longer, and one aspect to watch is how focused candidates stay in their current roles and responsibilities. Are you seeing candidates distracted by the process? Are they raising concerns about staying if they aren’t chosen? How are they discussing their strengths and weaknesses and those of the organization? What you see during the process reflects what you can expect once they are in the role.
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