Why your chances of going from CPO to CEO are low

In this article, I talk about the advantages that working strategically rather than tactically offers people leaders. In it, I address some hard truths about the common perceptions that CEOs and their board have about CPOs and argue they're the reason barely any CPOS make it to CEO.

 

It's sad, often unfair, but that's how it is for 99% of business. Now, I don't have hard data to back up that claim but have spent over fifteen years working with people leaders and following their careers, so stand by it from experience.

 

To illustrate: picture your board of directors. Now, imagine you've just heard your CEO's leaving. What is the first thing that comes to mind? "Hmmm, I wonder who's going to replace them...?" Naturally, this varies according to your firm's sector. industry, service, and product offering, but still, imagine the board sitting around an oversized table. You'll have the CEO and alongside them probably the CPO. CTO, CFO. CMO, CSO and COO. Who do you see taking over? I reckon it was either the COO, CMO, or CFO, right?

 

If you just imagined the CPO taking over as chief exec, you're in such a small minority, I'd love to know. The fact is, we just don't see people leaders in the same way that we do business leaders.

 

Why is that? Why do we not equate people leadership with business leadership? How can we actively change this perception? And, what can CEOs do differently when it comes to the training and development so that the next generation of people leaders get to change this? Let's consider these one by one, now.

 

Why we don't equate people leadership with business leadership Often, when you move up the ranks in HR, you rarely get the same breadth of business experience compared to other managers, For marketing and business execs, there's always a chance to move around internally, or switch from sales to operations, marketing to digital, etc. In the people and culture function, managers generally stay within their department, so as they move up their career ladder.

 

You'll rarely find that they're groomed for a major leadership role, let alone as CEO.

 

If we go back to PWC's 2022 C-Suite Pulse Survey, we see that more than three- quarters of CEOs surveyed believed that the most critical factor in their business's growth depended on hiring and retaining talent. So, successfully communicating your organisation's vision and values moves from a nice-to-have to a must-have for your business's survival and growth, doesn't it?

 

Now let's think about that in the context of what Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2022 revealed about employee engagement: 85% of staff are either not engaged or actively disengaged at work - this means only 15% are engaged - which is a terrifying stat.

 

The role of the CPO to commercial growth

 

Not strategically planning how to motivate and engage your employees as a CPO poses another threat to your potential climb to CEO.

 

As Harvard Business Review reported that 70% to 90% of mergers and acquisitions fail to deliver due to cultural clashes and a dilution in the merged companies' purpose, a robust people strategy is increasingly important to growth and the bottom line. Even though I'd argue this level of strategic planning should come from the board in the lead up to any M&A. blame can frequently be directed at the CPOs involved.

 

With M&A deals continuing to drop from their 2021 high, there is mounting pressure for growth by innovation. Once again, this comes back to people, and how they feel at work. Are they empowered to be autonomous? Does your culture encourage personal growth by experimentation, open reflection, and learning by failing?

 

I believe these emotional environments are the starting point for innovation, as Harvard Business School's Amy Edmondson backs up. In research spanning thirty years, Edmondson has shown time and time again.

 

That growth can only be driven by innovation when employees feel psychologically safe enough to fail, without fear of punishment. Commercial growth stagnates when people play safe out of the sheer fear of failing.

 

If the shoe were on the other foot.  

 

As we know, most CEOs have risen up through operations, sales, finance, or marketing. Bar marketing, where empathy and understanding into why we do what we do is a major part of success. CEOs aren't often experts in emotional, psychological, or behavioural people-matters. But CPOs are. They have a natural talent for building trust and knowing how best to invest in their people, which is why they often stay in the people function.

I wonder what would happen if we were to give people leaders business experience and offered business leaders people experience. It's pretty obvious that CPOs rarely get the opportunity to become CEO, but what about if the shoe was on the other foot?

 

When all leaders, not just the CEO, fail to spend any time in a people function - which we've made loud and clear is one of the most valuable assets a company has - I'm not sure things will change at the top.