Harvard Business Publishing

Hi Marshall,

Is becoming a successful CEO coach the equivalent of getting struck by lightning?

Besides a reasonable degree of education, what are some key qualities or characteristics that a CEO coach must have?

Matthew-I wouldn't say that becoming a successful CEO coach is equivalent to getting struck by lightning, but it certainly doesn't happen over night, nor does it happen to everyone! As for key characteristics that a CEO coach should have--these should be similar to those that a CEO should have: intelligence, hard work, and commitment. Integrity should be a ‘given.’

I feel this wave coming in not only for young people. I'm 40 and I'm way less secure, way more stressed, way more hard working than my father was, and we both have/had comparable jobs.
The main difference that I keep learning, I have a wall covered with those nice little diploms that professional education gives for every course.

I loved your advice about not spending too many adult years "finding yourself." So many in this generation don't view their early-to-mid 20's as the time to build their skills, professional experiences, and business network. They tend to make lifestyle choices rather than career building choices.

The good news is that this generation, by profile, is very entrepreneurial. The question is whether they will invest sufficient time and duration for great results and experiences to come, rather than becoming impatient and moving to the next venture before their efforts have the opportunity to get traction.

Stray Cat-I agree. We can all use a dose of entrepreneurship.

Right....on.

Brilliant. Really shocked my thinking - which is always a good thing. (http://joboow.com/2008/10/28/how-are-the-global-labour-markets-going-to-change/)

As well as having a perspective as CEO of a global outsourced job board software provider, I'm personally fascinated in what we're going to have to do as human beings to evolve - not just for current challenges - but to position ourselves for the next stages of our growth. It feels like the current global situation is accelerating a lot of aspects of this, and I think you nail the key to the solution when you write 'Keep upgrading and changing your skills and talents to fit the needs of an ever-changing marketplace. You will be expected to know more and work harder, and you will be expected to keep learning in your increasingly precious spare time'

The only points I disagree on are your final comments about the year off and 'finding yourself'. I agree if one's objective is to maximise earning potential and traditional corporate career progression. However, I would argue that such things will be the foundation stones for individuals to both differentiate themselves as a personal brand and also to truly start to develop a roundedness that will put them in an improved competitive position in the medium term (this assumes that the new entrant to the workforce didn't 'find themself' in a coffee shop in Amsterdam....)

Laura-That is a very good question. Time will tell!
Heidi-Thank you!
Si-You make an interesting point. Thank you for providing another angle.

I totaly agree with your final advices, one should realistic in making career choice until your passionate and dedicated enough.

Always consider ROI (not limiting to money factors) before making any decision.

Dont rush to become CEO in first five years of your career you have lot to learn, experience and enjoy remember we usualy have 20 years of work life.

Shahzad-Thank you for this advice!

Very relevant, apt and insightful post for the younger generation..just one additional insight

Knowledge and information is a commodity today in the networked world - perception is not. I see an increasing trend in the younger generation to build superficial knowledge (aided by the google, wikipedia & Web2.0 tools). Young people today still need to build significant "depth" and "content" in whatever they do and not be satisfied in just being superficial knowledge.

Cheers
Vish

Vish-I agree with you! Thank you.

The sense of entitlement in this country, and in particular in the State of Michigan, is a huge obstacle we need to overcome. As a professional who supports entrepreneurs for a living I see so many fail as a result of this sense that the State or the Country owes them something.

I appreciate the mood in which you've put this post forth. I see it in my own children and in their generation, they do want to make it happen out of the fruit of their own work and when they fall they mostly blame themselves and not others. This gives me great hope for an up turn in the standing of US citizens around the world.

Thank you for your thoughts and their implications on the future of our country.

Miche (www.yourbusinessadvisor.net)

Miche-Thank you for your comments. I too have great hopes for the future!

Impactful article to me especially being a young person from the West. I find the points stated at the bottom quite true with the economy we are facing and the global competitiveness we face today. Young adults at this stage really do need to differentiate themselves from the world around them and the most effective way to do that is to spend quality building up the knowledge and network needed in order to be successful when the world begins to prosper again.

The question is who will be ready when the time comes, the individual who is investing their time in leisure or the individual who is investing personal time and money into their own development?

Thanks Marshall! - Jorrian Gelink

Jorrian-I agree with you! Thank you for commenting.

The only comment I disagree with is "Forget about taking a year off."

The year I took after graduating was the best learning experience I'd ever had. I grew more as a person in that year than in the past four at university. And now that I'm a Director and hiring, I wish more applicants were more well-rounded and worldly. Perhaps you should change the advice to "Forget about taking a year off if you're going to waste it laying by the pool and playing video games." Your time after school is a luxury people will never have again. If they can afford not getting a job for a year, take advantage of it! You'll never get a gap year again.

Well I am a young guy from India planning to start up his management studies in USA. I've been observing the surge in the number of people taking GMAT in India also as per all the top B-Schools, there is a massive increase in the number of Indian applications. So, the going has certainly got tougher for everyone all around and not just for the young people in west.

Derek-That is very well said. Thank you for clarifying.
Rahul-I agree with you. Thank you!

While welcoming the new global competition for jobs on the basis of merit, we should refuse this negative trend toward wild dog-eats-dog fight for scarce jobs.

Perhaps with the current depression, more people will wake up from wild consumerist ambitions, and start valuing a simpler and sociable life (- at least in the West...). Hopefully, this could also mean that we elect politicians who will rebuild safety nets and reinstate some sort of work stability.

It is good to work and it is good to study - particularly on those enjoyable, meaningful things. But NOTHING in nature tells us that we should be subjected to working 80 hours a week under stressful and unstable conditions. We need to resist that.

Anthony-I agree with you! Thank you!

Marshall - I agree 100% with your opening advice - that we're all entrepreneurs even if we work within an organization. Aside from equipping us to thrive in our careers, that mentality also makes us better employees and contributors to a company's bottom line.

One of the parts I disagree with is your mention that we should not waste time finding ourselves. I believe that when our work is infused with personal meaning (which we find after looking for it - as I have: www.silvanaavinami.com), we become unstoppable and contributors to the world at large. It is when we do not take time to find what we want from life and what's important to us in this precious life time that we risk becoming cogs in a machine - with our heads down working towards other people's causes - which are potentially harmful to the world. Just take a look at the current state of affairs in the finance industry. Hence I do not see taking time to find oneself as a waste of time. Instead it's a long term investment in one's career that will pay back handsomely sooner or later, economic downturn or not.

Finally, I'd like to reword the section where you mention that if you're poor you should live life as a poor person. Do you mean to say that we should all live within our means? And then the question is does living within our means make us poor? Or does it make us responsible?

I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts...and please keep your great insight coming.

Silvana

Silvana-At this point in time, I do believe it a good idea to buckle down and get to work. This is a time when many of us have less leeway for leisure. Personal growth is work and it must be delicately balanced with earning a living. Living within our means does not make us poor--living beyond our means can!

Marshall,

I must admit that I did all the wrong things in college. I took the wrong major (Political science). I took the wrong minor (Geography). I went to the wrong school (UNH). I did not work hard enough (2.8 GPA). Mostly, I came from the wrong family (Rural, honest, caring and frugal). If you were a psychologist you might diagnose this as depression.

The funny thing is that when I left college I really thought I was on the right track. When I graduated my parents told me that a liberal college education was enough to get me in the door. "Go knock on doors, Alex, being well-rounded is a skill that employers respect". Naively, I believed them.

Over the next two years, that optimism was beaten out of me as job after job rejected my resume for employment. Today, you don't knock on doors. You don't call. You send in your individually and personally crafted resume and cover letter after you have done your research. If you have the right keyword sequences that resume makes it through the computer filter and reaches the desk of a real person. I never did have what they were looking for and most of the time I wouldn't even get the dignity of a response. My friends who had specialized in technical degrees mostly had decent entry level jobs. I thought I could convince prospective employers that my skills would transfer. I learned surprisingly quickly that from an employers perspective, they couldn't and therefore, they wouldn't.

I did finally find a job working in health care as an assistant data analyst for $12 dollars an hour. I enter and clean data, grateful to have found something. Realistically speaking though, I did not need to go to college for this.

I do want to know more about your perspective. You mention that Gen Y should "develop skills and talents that will make [us] globally competitive." Well, could you elaborate on this imperative so that I might get a clue? I would love to look at your list of skills and talents that could make me globally competitive so that I might feel better about spending another $80,000 dollars I don't have; this time on a degree that means something to someone.

I enjoyed reading your article. I apologize for the blog, I thought you might be interested in the perspective.

Alex

Alex-This is a great perspective. Thank you for sharing it with us!