Becoming a leader of a large organisation is a multi-decade journey. The average age of CEOs is mid-fifties, and that is down from early 60s in the past. In other words, if you hope to reach the very top levels of an executive team at a global company, you have committed to a long game. But the skills you need will build and evolve. You will move from specialist to generalist, from doer to manager, from overseer to visionary. There is no exact path; there are certain skills and perspectives that often indicate the right type of mindset.
Here are five critical skills that every next-gen leader should be developing now.
Learn to say no, with credibility.
Early in your career, it’s easy to say yes to almost anything. You prioritise being helpful, taking opportunities to stretch up into new roles and even to network across departments and locations.
As you get more senior, rely on the value of saying no, from a place of experience and authority. You can offer value by showing where the thinking is wrong, or the opportunity is narrower. Being a leader means having the confidence in being the one who perhaps isn’t nodding in agreement. This can be difficult, lonely and pay off later than is comfortable. The balance is not to fight the outcome: it’s ok to be overruled. But if the negative result you articulated comes to pass, you may be rewarded–and heard—the next time.
And learn to hear no, too.
There’s no joy to be found in embracing naysayers or devil’s advocate types who simply relish poking holes. There is great insight from those who disagree with your view due to different, valid perspectives. The more you are invested in your own ideas, the more difficult it can be when others lack your enthusiasm about them.
Strong, effective leaders of complex organisations know they lack the multidimensional perspective to lead a team without insight from others. They know they need people with courage to question them. You can demonstrate leadership not only by having great ideas but remaining unthreatened when an individual initiative is questioned or even rejected.
Build relationships with difficult people.
Every company has that person that is tough to work with but still survives. Assuming you’re in a healthy, well-run organisation—there is probably a reason why. That person has a unique, highly valuable technical skill for design or quality assurance. They might be outstanding at sales—not because of ‘sales guy’ charisma but deep relationships with clients who trust them. Find out. Lean in.
Often the person who isn’t popular is underutilised. We are all human and social creatures, for all kinds of psychological reasons I can explain. (I doubt you need me to.) However, that doesn’t mean the person you’d grab a pint with is the same person who is most useful to you. This isn’t about excusing bad behaviour. It’s about learning how to extract value where others went for an easier win.
Embrace volatility and uncertainty.
Don’t hope for shaky markets, political unrest or supply chain disruption—that is a long-term risk to the company. But if you are aspiring to get to the top, demonstrate your comfort with it. Find opportunities in that crisis space. Some leaders will try to pause everything until the storm passes – this decision paralysis has made some consider it a hallmark of ‘bounded rationality’. The reluctance to act is rational but ultimately limiting. But in today’s globalised economy, rarely is there not a crisis somewhere, and many of those will impact a business elsewhere. As I have written previously, adaptability is the new superpower.
Those aspiring to be at the top of leadership, should find ways to reassess risk, or look at volatility as a good time to experiment. Maybe what is risky in a stable market from a ‘don’t rock the boat’ perspective is worth a shot when normal leaves the room. As always, do this from a place of experience, not taking chances just to look like a risk taker.
Think outside your box – and make others do the same.
This could mean a million things but one challenge for those in the ‘aspiring’ leader slot can be pigeonholed into offering a specific value. Don’t be the ‘American perspective’ or ‘Millennial’ voice. Not only are broad labels like that limiting to you but they’re also too broad for you to add real value.
Make sure your opinions and ideas are framed by your unique experience, in all the ways that means. Your network, your prior roles, your mentors—all of that helps influence your opinion. Certainly, if you are in a marketing or sales role you will need to have views based on cultural norms or other demographic information. And if you are, in fact, an American Millennial there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that lens. But don’t rely heavily on simplistic views. Younger people don’t have all the answers on AI. Older people don’t hold all the wisdom. It sounds basic, but we make assumptions, and sometimes those who aspire to a leadership role are vulnerable to accepting any kind of value ascribed to them.
To reach the C-suite, you need to demonstrate the skills and perspective that complex organisations rely upon.
No one can be expected to do all of the above, all of the time. The goal is simply to build a muscle where it becomes…easier to do difficult things. Learning to not fear volatility, to say no, to see value in less likeable people—these are things that make us uncomfortable. But those who make strategic decisions in difficult times are the ones who do this well, or at least do it regularly. To become one of them, you must too.
- For more advice on becoming a C-suite leader, read this article on thinking about tomorrow, today.
- To learn how to improve your perspective, read here about expanding your world view.
- For more advice on managing through crisis, read this.
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