The way to the top

Despite the fact that MBA owners take the way to the top faster, a ten years study by Harvard business school gives a different picture.

The study is called "CEO Genome Project" . It studied 17,000 CEOs who reached CEO faster than the average of 24 years from their first job. Of the 17,000 CEOs, 2,600 were studied in depth.

The study found that only 24% of the 17,000 CEOs had elite MBAs. However, career sprinters made bold career moves, 97% made at least one, and 50% had two. Let's illustrate these bold movements.

Go small to go big: 60% of sprinters had worked in a small business at some time in their career. This gave them the opportunity to take a greater set of responsibilities, and acquire knowledge in different fields such as financial management, inventory management, human resources, planning, training, and so on. This knowledge, and experience was the key to the same position at a medium business. The next step was the CEO of a corporation.

Make a big leap: More than one third of career sprinters agreed to roles that were beyond anything they've done previously. They took the challenge in spite of not being fully prepared. It was some sort of adventure. However, this leap reflects self confidence, challenge, hard work, and responsibility. These traits are crucial for the CEO, and big leap takers proved to be having them all.

Tackle a big mess: One third of career sprinters made their way to the top through leading their teams through messy situations. Only a person with an internal locus of control can agree for being the leader in a complex, ambiguous situation. When faced with a crisis, it's time for emerging leaders to show their ability to assess the situation calmly, and make decisions under stress. This is a great preparation for the CEO position.

In short, your career doesn't necessarily require an elite MBA, but it requires decisions towards risky career moves.

Next time you meet an opportunity that seems to be risky, contact us speak2bmg@gmail.com to help you make the correct decision concerning your career moves.