The "Messy" Path to Leadership

In Euclidean geometry, "The shortest path between two points is a straight line." You may know the concept, "the path of least resistance."

These ideas work well in many areas, but if you're navigating an upward career path toward executive leadership, you may be well advised to take a longer, messier path that comes with some challenges. Here's why:

• The distance between points A to B is short, and limiting. When you apply a linear approach to your career trajectory, you coast in your comfort zone. Let's say you started your career as a marketing intern, and through years of hard work you eventually land in a VP of Marketing position. But, your experience is mono-focused and limited only to marketing, possibly within the same company, so your next logical career step is Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) - that's it.
• The path of least resistance is also the path of least opportunity. Advancing toward executive leadership roles doesn't have to be difficult, but you must be willing to stretch outside your comfort zone to build experiences, gain exposure and broaden your sphere of influence. In doing so, you gain new skills, develop key relationships and add to your credibility as a value-added leader - all factors in creative new opportunities.

How to navigate the "messy" path to leadership
To effectively lead in today's challenging economy, executives need strategic insight and organizational awareness, coupled with critical skills like communication and relationship management. These qualities are developed through diverse career experiences that force you to move from one area of expertise to another - for example, from marketing to finance or operations.

Messy doesn't necessarily mean haphazard. You can be strategic and intentional about your non-linear approach to the C-suite when you:

• Clarify where you want to eventually end up. Where do you want to be in your career five to ten years from now? Knowing the end result you want to achieve helps you strategize opportunities that may be a good fit for your growth path.
• Identify success patterns. Most corporate CEOs have a non-linear career trajectory despite having a very specific sweet spot in a certain area. According to Forbes, 30 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs have a foundation in finance, though few advanced to the C-suite directly from the area. Instead, CEOs have a range of experience in a variety of areas -- from finance and accounting to marketing and operations -- that gives them strategic insight and the ability to understand the financial implications of their decisions.
• Seek assignments that stretch you. Actively seek projects that elevate your diverse skills and align with your career goals. Look in areas outside your usual comfort zone. If you're in engineering, seek assignments in operations that might leverage your existing skills, but that also present learning opportunities and exposure to other departments.
• Build relationships. Conduct informational interviews with people in departments outside of your own. The intent is to both learn more about the areas of expertise that are new to you, and develop relationships with key people of influence within the organization.

While the path to the C-suite isn't always clearly marked, you can be assured that organizations place high value on leaders who can communicate a strategic vision and deliver results, and that can only happen when you have a breadth of experience and knowledge that comes from taking the messy, non-linear path to leadership.

Charmaine McClarie, executive coach and keynote speaker. Reprinted by permission of The McClarie Group. Charmaine McClarie has helped thousands of executives lead highly successful organizational and career transformations in a variety of Fortune 500 companies, including, Starbucks, Humana, Adobe, The GAP Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson and Tate & Lyle. Contact her at charmaine@mcclariegroup.com.