CAREER PLANNING

How to Get on the Shortlist for

the C-Suite
by Cassandra Frangos
MARCH 02, 2017

The career question I hear most often from rising senior leaders is this: “How do I get on the C-suite
shortlist?”

The management literature is overflowing with advice on becoming the boss. Yet the path narrows
significantly as executives ascend closer to the top slots. Having played a role in many C-suite
successions, I’ve found there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. All organizations are different and
every executive brings unique strengths and experience. That said, I’ve identified a few
fundamentals that top the list.

Timing
Know how long you’ll be in line. If you are the number two executive and the current C-suite leader
is young, well-liked, and only two years into her tenure, you’re looking at a lengthy wait. Conversely,
if you’re the heir apparent and your boss has said he would like to do something new in one to two
years, your time may be close at hand.

The point is, take steps to put yourself in the right place at the right time. With transparency in
succession planning becoming a priority, career management for senior executives becomes easier.
You can’t control someone else’s succession, but you can use your knowledge strategically. Decide
how long you are willing to wait, and understand the succession timeline. If you are a C-suite
hopeful and there’s no spot opening up in your timeframe, it may be a signal to look elsewhere.

Experience
To make the C-suite shortlist, you need to go beyond your functional role and get broader
experience. Every organization has a slightly different framework of expected experience, but I like
to look at this through the lens of strategy and operations. You can be stronger at one of them, but
you need to know how to manage both.

One CFO I know managed finance for a spin-off firm when it went public and then returned to the
parent company in a corporate position. Another CFO led finance for multiple units so he could gain
a breadth of knowledge across the business before becoming the corporate CFO. Likewise, I know
numerous chief HR officers who have done tours in business, operations, HR, and elsewhere.

Rotating around the organization gives you a balance of experience. It also pressure-tests you in
multiple environments and delivers a broader perspective. At Cisco, we prepare candidates for top
slots by using executive assessments to identify strengths and development areas and by giving
individuals strategic assignments to fill experience voids and provide greater exposure
opportunities. For example, one talented executive’s 360-degree reviews indicated that she was
underutilized as a leader. As a result, we shifted her into a larger role with higher visibility and gave
her board exposure.

Impact
Impact
Competition for top slots is intense. Getting on the C-suite shortlist requires having a demonstrable
impact on the entire company. There are countless ways I’ve seen executives raise their profile, but
they fall into three categories.

Disruptors shake things up and make people a little uncomfortable in order to get an organization
unstuck and drive change. With some companies still struggling to make the transformation to
digital business, I’ve witnessed executives who’ve unlocked new ways of doing business, and leaped
levels into a C-suite role as a result.

Turnaround leaders pick up the pieces and make things right when a business or function is failing
to perform. These fixers are often shortlisted for the C-suite because of their talent for problem
solving and working through ambiguity. One chief strategy officer I met got the job after bringing his
company back from the brink with a number of savvy strategic alliances, essentially turning it
around after the 2008 recession. Another fixer, a banking CFO, upped her organization’s analytics
capability at a time when it was losing customers to online competitors.

Stabilizers understand what to preserve in the business and can give it the care and feeding it needs.
One business leader I know from Cisco took over a mature business that was already doing well. She
saw it as her job to keep the numbers stable and add growth where she could. She made a name for
herself by understanding what was working in the business and leveraging the momentum for
future growth.

No matter the specifics of how you stand out, demonstrate that you can get results in high-stakes
environments.

Culture
This is something that all C-suite hopefuls need to get a handle on — fast. Even if you succeed in
your functional or business roles over a long period, you won’t make it to the top team unless the
cultural fit is right.
Most companies have a distinct culture. It would be unusual for any company to promote an
executive into the C-suite who wasn’t a clear cultural fit. A particular CIO might thrive in a
disruptive startup culture, for instance, but sink in a larger, more complex organization.

I’ve known several otherwise-solid candidates who not only lost their shot at a top spot but also
ended up leaving the organization altogether because of a culture clash. It’s better for you to size up
this element early and engage in career planning accordingly.

Broad Support
Formal C-suite advocates and senior sponsors are crucial, of course. But you need multiple
advocates and allies at all levels of an organization in order to get to the C-suite. Do your 360-degree
assessments indicate that you have solid support from employees across the organization, including
your peers? I recall one manager who was universally admired by direct reports but widely
distrusted by his management colleagues. (To his credit, he addressed the problem directly and got
the relationships back on track.)

Truth be told, it’s difficult to rise to the top of any company without universal trust and support.
Chuck Robbins had numerous advocates at every level of Cisco when he was named CEO. With so
much support, one could say that he was the clear choice for the top spot. It was therefore no
surprise that he was the board’s unanimous choice.

CEO Chemistry
Your most important advocate or supporter, of course, is the CEO, or whomever you will report to.
(If you are in line for a chief executive role yourself, then you are beholden to the board.) The best
way to win over these and other highest-level decision makers? Bring personal experiences to the C-
suite that complement and complete the wider top team. Interpersonal chemistry with other
executives is important, of course, but chemistry at the top is also about making the top team better
by what you bring to it.

State your ambition. If you don’t take a risk by making your objective known, no one else will. Put it
out there that you want a C-suite position. If you gain a commitment from key leaders to help you
gain the experience needed or to put a development plan in place, then you may be onto something.
 Cassandra Frangos is vice president for global executive talent and organizational
development at Cisco Systems. Connect with her on Twitter: @c_frangos.

This article is about CAREER PLANNING

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Jason Song 8 hours ago

Culture and the supporting from CEO are most high priority for C-Suite.
Perfect article!!!
Thanks
Jason

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