CEOs like Robert Bassam may be mega rich, high powered business men and women who sat at the top of some of the World’s biggest companies but remember, the majority of them were not born into their roles. If you think about it like this then you will soon realize that you, like anyone else, has the potential and the opportunities to head to the top of a company yourself and become the Chief Executive Officer of a business or enterprise.
There is nothing wrong with lofty ambitions and if this is a position that you desire then here are the steps that you need to take in order to get there.
Making the Grade
You should be starting out with your eyes on the prize of a CEO position right from educational age and studying extremely hard to achieve high grades. Whilst there are many CEOs around the World who flunked at school, they are exceptions and you will have more probability of success if you study hard and achieve the highest grades possible. As you reach college age you should be aiming to specialize in finance, this will help you greatly in the future and ensure you have a great grasp of business and its workings.
Experience
It is vital that you start to gain experience as early as possible in business an you can do this by way of internships or volunteering. Not only will this served time look great on a resume when the time comes to look for a position, it will also help you greatly in terms of gaining experience which you will use in the future. This is a learning curve which you will have to create for yourself.
Believe
From the moment that you take your first position, even if you are at the bottom of the ladder, you need to have a strong air of belief about you. You should act as though you own the company that you work for, respectfully of course, and you should ensure that everyone around you can see that you are shooting for the stars. If you don’t have the belief then you are not giving anyone else a reason to believe in you, something which you will need if you want to climb to the top.
Networking
In order to climb up to board level you are going to need a lot of support around you from peers, staff and superiors and in order to do so you will need to create a tight and loyal network of people. In order to do this you need to be consistently delivering high results, you should be a strong communicator and a humble people person. Nobody ever got to become CEO off their own back and you will always need to rely on the support of someone to get you to the next step. Strong personal skills are required as well as being excellent in your job and once you have built relationships, you should work hard at maintaining them.