Traditionally, company leaders would be drawn from general management, with typically experience of leading branches or divisions. Barring a few from operations management background, very few functional leaders would climb up the staircase. A study conducted by McKinsey clearly shows that less than fifteen percent of CEOs have had prior experience as CFO, CTO, CSO or CMO positions. Many CEOs were even poached from other companies. However, certain steps are being taken to broaden the pool of talent. Due to pressures exerted by digital-natives, embedded with skills on robotics, artificial intelligence or business analytics, a CFO’s numerical aptitude is coming to the fore. Very few such functional leaders were recruited from other firms to become CEOs. Instead their deep knowledge on their own firms, was why they were. Post becoming CEOs, most leaders focused on a management reshuffle, followed by strategic review, geographic expansion and then a business or product closure.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-functional-leaders-become-ceos

Uploaded Date:08 February 2018