Beat the bridge 20214/15/2023 ![]() Understanding the odds of success and how to beat them will reshape the dialogue between boards, CEOs and CEO aspirants. What distinguished aspiring CEOs who beat the odds was their self-awareness and devotion to unlocking their full potential - not just to become CEO but also to thrive once in the position. We found overperformers and underperformers among CEOs of every background and across industries. What distinguished aspiring CEOs who beat the odds was their self-awareness and devotion to unlocking their full potential. The study reveals a surprising pattern of results. Last, we interviewed successful CEOs about key learnings on their path to the top. ![]() Next, we analyzed the development advice given to more than 100 senior executives as part of their companies’ CEO succession planning to identify common themes for each steppingstone. As part of Spencer Stuart’s CEO Life Cycle research, we studied more than 1,300 CEO transitions to predict the probability of success in the top job based on CEO backgrounds. The last mile before becoming CEO represents the final opportunity to prepare ahead of time for the race that matters most.īy understanding the common challenges, executives can tilt the odds in their favor and unlock their full potential. Even though CEOs continue to learn throughout their tenure, they recognize in hindsight how increased complexity and greater demands make it exponentially harder to focus on their own development. The “last-mile” experience - and the priorities, mental models and stakeholder exposure that come with it - shape a future CEO’s towering strengths and growth opportunities. It turns out that not every executive role presents equal odds of success. Like medal-winning athletes, most of the groundwork is laid ahead of time. This article, published in the January–February 2022 issue of Harvard Business Review, highlights Spencer Stuart research looking at where CEO successors come from, the relative performance of CEOs from different backgrounds and how CEO aspirants can better prepare to outperform as CEO. The HBR article, Finding the Right CEO, draws on Spencer Stuart research that is the basis for this article. To help CEO aspirants beat the odds, we examined the most common areas to unlock performance for each of the four primary steppingstones to CEO.įeatured in the Jan–Feb 2022 issue of Harvard Business Review Aspiring CEOs who beat the odds cultivate self-awareness and work to unlock their full potential - not just to become CEO but also to thrive once in the position.Ī CEO’s last-mile role is the final opportunity to address areas that could handicap performance as CEO. ![]() But odds are not destiny: We identified overperformers and underperformers among CEOs of every background and across industries. Our analysis of the performance of CEOs with these backgrounds found surprising differences.Over the past 20 years, 85 percent of S&P 500 CEOs have ascended from four “last-mile” roles: COOs, divisional CEOs, CFOs and “leapfrog” leaders promoted from below the C-suite. ![]()
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