Publisher: Currency, 2018, 272 pages
ISBN: 978-1-101-90649-1
Keywords: Leadership
Based on an in-depth analysis of over 2,600 leaders drawn from a database of more than 17,000 CEOs and C-suite executives — as well 13,000 hours of interviews and two decades of experience advising CEOs and executive boards — Elena L. Botelho and Kim R. Powell overturn the myths about what it takes to get to the top and succeed.
Botelho and Powell's groundbreaking research, the featured cover story in a 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review, reveals the common attributes and counterintuitive choices that set apart successful CEOs — lessons that we can apply to our own careers.
Much of what we hear about who gets to the top, and how, is wrong. Those who become chief executives set their sights on the C-suite at an early age. In fact, over 70 percent of the CEOs didn't have designs on the corner office until later in their careers. You must graduate from an elite college. In fact, only 7 percent of CEOs in the dataset are Ivy League graduates — and 8 percent didn't graduate from college at all. To become a CEO you need a flawless résumé. The reality: 45 percent of CEO candidates had at least one major career blowup.
What those who reach the top do share are four key behaviors that anyone can master: They are decisive; they are reliable, delivering what they promised when they promise it, without exception; they adapt boldly; and they engage with stakeholders without shying away from conflict.
Culled from a breakthrough study of the most successful people in business and illustrated by real-life stories from CEOs and boardrooms, The CEO Next Door offers career advice for everyone who aspires to get ahead. Bothelo and Powell, utilizing their research insights, tell us how to:
For everyone who hopes to advance in their organization and achieve their full potential, The CEO Next Door is an essential guide.