by Jeffrey J. Fox is a Harvard-trained marketer, founder of Fox & Company, and author of several best-sellers on practical career strategy, including How to Become a Rainmaker. His advice is blunt, field-tested, and aimed at ambitious people who want the corner office sooner rather than later.
1. Think and act like the future boss
Titles arrive after behavior proves worthy of them. Start running your patch of the business as if the profit-and-loss statement were already on your desk.
Question every expense: Would I spend this if it were my own cash?
Chase every customer: What’s their next pain point, and how do we solve it faster than anyone else?
When colleagues complain about problems outside their job description, step in. Rapid, owner-level action tells senior leaders two things: you see the whole field, and you’re willing to be accountable. They remember that when a broader role opens up.
Just as important: adopt a CEO information diet. Follow industry news, read competitor filings, learn basic finance. In meetings you’ll ask sharper questions because you track the metrics that matter. Leaders notice the person who connects a frontline bug to a market trend or a cost overrun to last quarter’s cash-flow dip—and then proposes a fix.
2. Own your career map
Human-resources teams manage compliance; they rarely manage ambition. Sketch your own map. First, locate the power nodes—the departments that set strategy, control budgets, or touch customers most directly. Next, study the résumés of rising executives: What roles did they hold? Which business schools, certifications, or international postings show up again and again? That pattern tells you what the culture rewards.
Once you see the path, move with intent: volunteer for a transfer, seek a mentor two rungs up, or ask for cross-functional projects that build the missing pieces of your profile. If the current firm has a glass ceiling you can’t crack—maybe you lack the “right” pedigree or the leadership favors insiders—leave before frustration calcifies. Switching companies can reset perceptions and put you back on an upward slope.
Finally, seize spotlight assignments even when they feel risky. When a senior vice-president needs someone to rescue a failing pilot or coordinate a C-suite dashboard, raise your hand. Win or lose, you’ll learn more in six months than most peers learn in two years—and leadership will associate your name with action, not caution.
3. Deliver results that talk louder than you do
Corporate life overflows with polished slide decks and clever slogans, yet deadlines slip and initiatives stall. Execution is rare, which makes it the ultimate differentiator. Build a simple promise-keeping system: every commitment, no matter how small, goes on a list; every day, clear the list. When unexpected fires erupt, communicate early, adjust the plan, and still deliver something useful on time. That habit alone moves you into the top decile of reliability.
Layer on visible wins. Pick projects whose outcomes can be measured—new revenue, cost avoided, cycle time cut in half. Share the metrics in a short note to stakeholders: “Team reduced onboarding from 18 to 7 days; client churn dropped 12%.” The data speak for you long after the meeting ends.
Remember to split credit generously. Mention the analyst who pulled the data or the engineer who wrote the crucial patch. People line up behind leaders who elevate others, and word travels faster than any official recognition program.
4. Work where the action—and money—is
Not all roles carry equal wattage. Revenue-generating and product-owning positions live under the brightest bulbs because they tie directly to growth and market share. If you’re in legal, HR, or another support lane, plan a tour of duty in sales, operations, or P&L management. Even a one-year rotation can transform how leadership sees you.
Pay scale is another clue. Higher-paid positions face tougher scrutiny but also grant more exposure. When torn between two offers, lean toward the one with a slightly bigger paycheck and a tighter linkage to top-line or bottom-line results; that visibility accelerates your climb.
Once in role, manufacture moments where executives witness your team’s talent. Invite the CFO to a quarterly demo, loop the COO into a factory walk-through, or host a client roundtable that showcases frontline success. Orchestrated access cements your status as a producer, not just a participant.
5. Lead before the title lands
Leadership is a choice long before it becomes a job description. Treat every meeting, negotiation, or customer call as a chance to model the mindset you want the organization to adopt. Frame discussions around the customer’s gain, escalate issues before they metastasize, and volunteer for the messy tasks—closing an angry account, consolidating two redundant teams, explaining bad news to the board.
Recruit like an owner, too. Push for smart, honest, driven hires even if they cost more than budgeted. Talent compounds: one A-player can outperform three B-players and elevate everyone’s game. Once the team is in place, remove roadblocks, recognize wins publicly, and redirect credit privately—simple behaviors that convert loyalty into discretionary effort.
Outside your function, behave like a brand ambassador. Use the product, wear the logo, answer acquaintances’ questions with pride. Executives want leaders who live the mission because customers feel that authenticity.
6. Make discipline your secret weapon
Consistency beats intensity. Show up 45 minutes before most coworkers. Use that quiet slice to triage email, sketch priorities, and rehearse tough conversations. Over 12 months you’ll “bank” an extra four workweeks—without burning a single Saturday.
Guard physical stamina, too. CEOs don’t train for marathons; they train for reliability. A half-hour of weights, yoga, or interval cycling five times a week boosts focus, mood, and immunity. In a chronically tired workforce, the person who looks alert at 6 p.m. strategy reviews stands out.
Finally, control social optics. Join team drinks, nurse one beverage, leave before gossip curdles. Decline the late-night karaoke marathon before you’re the fuzzy photo in Monday’s Slack thread. Discipline may feel invisible day to day; in aggregate, it brand-marks you as “promotion safe.”
7. Communicate so no one misfires
Clarity is kindness—and efficiency. Spend an hour of silent thinking each morning to distill problems into one-page briefs and decisions into two-sentence asks. Remove jargon; swap “leverage cross-functional synergies” for “share data daily.” People act faster when they understand you the first time.
When gratitude is due, write a handwritten note. The tactile format elevates the message above the hundreds of digital pings that crowd an inbox. Likewise, when a conflict brews, walk over—or open a video call—rather than prolonging an email duel. Direct conversation resolves tension in minutes and prevents screenshot politics.
Voice and body language matter. Speak slightly slower than normal, pause after key numbers, and look listeners in the eye. Calm delivery signals control. Control breeds trust. And trust grants influence well beyond your formal remit.
8. Dodge the silent career killers
One hasty email, one drunken rant, one forwarded rumor—any can outweigh years of solid output. Treat anger like radiation: dangerous, invisible, and permanently traceable. Step away from the keyboard, draft the response in a private doc, and sleep on it. Most “urgent” venting never needs sending.
Stay clear of gossip benches. The colleague who dishes today dishes about you tomorrow. Politely exit the circle or pivot to solutions. Leaders value employees who rise above noise and keep the enterprise focused.
When something truly breaks—a budget overrun, a security breach, a client defection—surface it fast. Outline what happened, why, and three recovery options. Transparency paired with a fix can earn respect; concealment destroys it. Remember, the higher you climb, the less time you have to rebuild shattered credibility.
9. Key takeaways
Climbing to CEO isn’t sorcery; it’s a pattern of disciplined choices. Act like an owner, chart your own path, and plant yourself in roles that generate visible value. Execute so reliably that your name becomes shorthand for “it’ll get done.” Lead teams and customers before anyone grants formal authority. Communicate with precision, live with restraint, and guard your reputation like equity.
Do those nine things repeatedly and the corner office stops being a long-shot wish. It becomes the logical next step in a career you’ve already been steering, day by disciplined day.
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