How to Successfully Make the Career Journey to C-Suite Level.
Most large organisations have a C-Suite, which is the widely used term that describes an organisation's senior executives or leadership team, responsible for driving business strategies and overseeing operations. Many aspire to work in these high-level roles, but what is the best path to take to get there?
Over the last few months, I’ve spoken to a large number of people working at C-Suite level and asked them the following question...
How did you successfully make the journey to C-Suite?
The answers varied, but 5 main points came out:
Be clear about your goals and aspirations – know your WHY!
It’s crucial to define these, to ensure you stay focussed amid challenges. Reflect on what motivates you, your strengths, and the impact you want to make within an organisation. Do you thrive in strategic decision-making roles? Are you passionate about leading large scale digital transformation? Do you put people or customers at the heart of your business? Why do you want to be at C-Suite level?
Invest in continuous learning
This is the cornerstone of growth, professionally and personally. Seek out courses and qualifications that are relevant to your industry and align with your career goals, as well as developing soft skills that are important at all levels of leadership like financial acumen, communication, EQ, and strategic thinking. Know that learning never stops, and always aspire to know more.
Network, network, network
Build a strong professional network, establish meaningful relationships with mentors, industry leaders, and colleagues at all levels inside and outside of your organisation and industry, who can offer valuable insights, guidance, experience, support and potentially champion and recommend you for C-Suite positions. Participate in industry events, and forums, be open to new ways of thinking and working.
Demonstrate your leadership potential!
Continually demonstrate your abilities and qualities, you can do this by leading cross-functional projects, influencing, inspiring others. Act with purpose, integrity, credibility and gravitas, as well as developing a collaborative and inclusive culture that inspires people to want to work with you.
Stretch yourself – volunteer for challenging assignments that push you out of your comfort zone and / or navigate complex business scenarios. Embrace every challenge as an opportunity.
Exceed expectations and deliver results.
Embrace feedback
This was the most popular answer from people and the one that can make a journey to C-Suite successful or not!
Seek out 360 feedback from peers, the people you report into and teams that you manage, as well as mentors and people outside of your organisation. Listen actively to constructive criticism and work on addressing any skills gaps that have been identified. Know that you’re not the finished article and don’t take it too personally.
Know yourself, your personality type, your strengths, weaknesses and build your personal brand, so you think, look and feel like you’re already at C-Suite!
This journey usually takes more than a decade and often the majority of a person’s career and is usually not a linear path. Every step along the way, each challenge and test will present an opportunity for growth and development. Those who preserver and keep their end goal in mind, are the most likely to succeed!
Working with FR Executive
I’m an Executive Search Director at Forward Role, specialising in Ecommerce & Digital Product appointments. If you are looking to fill leadership positions in your business to enable you to meet growth targets and strategic goals, feel free to get in touch to discuss how I can support you with tailored recruitment solutions.
Alternatively, if you’re looking to take the next step in your executive career, I’d love to hear from you to chat about your plans and how I can help!
