Climbing to the top

I had dinner with the Group CEO of a PLC last evening. My former boss at Aetna is now the CEO of ING Funds.


How does a CEO look like?


It is not the unreachable pinnacle once reserved for those born with a silver spoon in their mouth, who went to the right school, who know the right people - the privileged group.


To climb to the top of a company, is like scaling a rocky mountain. One has to establish a firm footing. To get a firm footing, we must learn from those who have already reached that seemingly inaccessible pinnacle.


You may not want to be CEO, but you may want to be the FC, Director of Sales & Marketing, Head of Administration, principal, revenue Manager.


Perhaps your current career goal is not to get to the top of the hill, but simply to avoid being pushed off.


To keep your job, or to move up, you still need to understand what a chief (ie, your boss) expects from you. What makes him tick. What his priorities are. What he's instinctively good at as well as his blind spots.


I have made it a habit to do this, from way back in the days when I was a computer operator working the graveyard shift - don't behave (dress, talk, think) like what you are today, rather, behave like what you will be tomorrow