THE CEO NEXT DOOR

5 stars out of 5

Back in the Dark Ages when I conducted employee development seminars on variety of topics, I made it a point to provide participants with a take-home list of resources - mostly books. If I made such a list today, for sure this one would be on it. It's jam-packed with practical, put-to-workable information on what it really takes to land a spot at the top of the corporate leaderboard.

Subtitled "The 4 Behaviors That Transform Ordinary People into World-Class Leaders," the book is based on extensive research that was featured in a 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review. But not to worry; it's far from a lofty dissertation that only a Ph.D. can understand. The authors lay out, using real-life examples, four key "CEO genome" behaviors they've found to be present in all successful CEOs and provide in-depth but simply stated steps for putting the behaviors to work in real life (yours).

The book begins by poo-pooing conventional wisdom; it's not necessary, for instance, to be an Ivy League grad or an egomaniac. And surprise (at least to me, who grew up with the notion that if I worked hard I'd get noticed and get ahead), work ethic plays no role in the likelihood of becoming a CEO. Still another? Future CEOs typically have held from eight to 11 positions in four to six companies. So much for the late 1950s CW that job-hopping is a sure-fire career ender (if I recall correctly, anything less than five years at one place was a no-no).

Interspersed throughout are nuggets I found especially noteworthy, such as that it's better to make a decision that's potentially bad than to make no decision at all. Or this one, which struck a chord with me, no doubt in light of the current political climate: "When you are a leader, most things that go wrong are not directly your fault - but they are always your responsibility."

Chapters end with "key takeaways," and at the finish line are a ton of endnotes, arranged by chapter for easy reference. Here's my own takeaway: If you've got your eye on becoming a CEO of any size company - or just want to emulate the behaviors of those who have been there, done that - this book is a must. Many thanks to the publisher (via NetGalley) for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The CEO Next Door by Elena L. Botelho, Kim R. Powell and Tahl Raz (Currency, March 2018); 288 pp.