Think Like a CEO

Your intuition, insight into others and empathy ushered you high up that career ladder. But do you have what it takes to go all the way? Simply put, how’s your business acumen? (Think managing a P&L, statistical analysis, micro-economics, etc.)

That’s “the missing element of leadership that women aren’t taught,” according to Susan Colantuono, author of the new book, No Ceiling, No Walls. The principles behind traditional leadership programs and training, she explains, haven’t changed since the 70s. “They are modeled on the needs of male executives, who already had the business acumen to get into those roles but needed to focus on honing interpersonal skills.” But since women tend to naturally excel at those “soft” skills, they are more likely to need leadership training focused on business know-how – “skills women are perceived as lacking.”

Colantuono’s best advice: Think like a CEO. No Ceiling, No Walls outlines the four outcome categories that indicate your organization’s health – cash, growth, return and customer.

Colantuono also recommends What the CEO Wants You to Know – filled with strategies on how to put the right people in the right jobs, improving group effectiveness and leading change within your company.

Sure, an MBA would bring you up to speed. But if B-school isn’t in your five-year plan, check out The Ten-Day MBA – an introduction to terminology and business theories you’d cover in a classroom, including ethics, organizational behavior and quantitative analysis.

Bonus PINK Link: Colantuono shares more leadership lessons women are seldom taught in her PINK blog.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
Anais Nin