Moving to the C-Suite Requires Development of these 3 Skills

A new generation of top execs has come into power over the last few years that don’t look much like their predecessors, at least in terms of skills. They aren’t necessarily the most technically brilliant at preparing a forecast, nor are they Zen masters of the supply chain.

Sure, those capabilities helped them rise up in the organization, but it’s not what got them to the C-suite, according to an article in the March issue of Harvard Business Review. What skills need to be in your toolbox to make it to the very top?

Soft ones.

“Technical skills are merely a starting point, the bare minimum,” write authors Boris Groysberg, L. Kevin Kelly, and Bryan MacDonald in The New Path to the C-Suite. “To thrive as a C-level executive, an individual needs to be a good communicator, a collaborator, and a strategic thinker — and we think the trend toward a general business orientation over a functional orientation will continue.”

Relying on interviews and examination of hundreds of executive profiles developed by the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, the authors lay out the new job requirements for seven positions: CIO, chief marketing and sales officer, CFO, general counsel, chief supply-chain-management officer, chief human resource officer, and CEO.

For example, here are the new requirements to take the chief information officer position in your firm.

- Ability to view the business holistically, across functional, unit, and regional boundaries

- Process orientation and comfort with organizational design

- Information analytic knowledge; ability to help companies sort through and use information

- Expertise in investment allocation and using ROI to make decisions about future IT expenditures

Are these three skills in demand and recognized as critical to reach the top in your organization? What are other skills that you see as important?

Instilling Innovation in Leadership

As we start a new year during a slow recovery, innovation will be at a premium as organizations strive to uncover new opportunities for growth. Yet many leaders have trouble thinking about (let alone driving) innovation when they're focused on managing through the still-challenging present.

Five years ago, GE (GE) launched a leadership development program called "Leadership, Innovation and Growth" (LIG) to stimulate growth and innovation from within the organization. The program created new ways to think and talk about innovation simply and practically, so it would grow into part of how leaders operated their business. Leadership teams from across GE's top 60 businesses have since participated in the program, and have learned how to translate innovative ideas and opportunities into initiatives with real results.

As GE prepares to launch the next iteration of LIG (focused on global growth), they have spent some time reflecting on what's worked and what needs improvement. The factors most responsible for LIG's success have value and relevance far beyond GE, especially in a slow-growth world. Organizations can teach innovation to their leaders and teams—so these employees can make what they learn in the classroom part of how they operate day to day. Here's the execution road map.