NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER - Winner of
CMI Management Book of the Year 2019
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.
Their groundbreaking research was the featured cover story in the
May-June 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review. It 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 the promise it, without exception; they adapt boldly,
and they engage with stakeholders without shying away from conflict.
Based on this breakthrough study of the most successful people in
business, Botelho and Powell offer career advice for everyone who
aspires to get ahead. Based on research insights illustrated by real
life stories from CEOs and boardrooms, they tell us how to:
- Fast-track our career by deploying the career catapults used by
those who get to the top quickly
- Overcome the hidden handicaps to getting the job we want.
- Avoid the 5 hazards that most commonly derail those promoted into a
new role.
For everyone who aspires to rise up through the organization and achieve
their full potential, The CEO Next Door is an essential guide.
