Page 27 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

8 • CEO Material: How to Be a Leader in Any Organization

than the average NFL team, with turnover of almost 40 percent every
year.) With 76 million baby boomers leaving the workforce across the
board, people will be promoted to bigger jobs earlier (this is happening
in Europe and Asia too). The fact is that 92 percent of the 350 million
people in this country will end up working at some job level in corporate
America. I say that if you’re going to end up enrolled there anyway,
you might as well go for the best job starting now, and that is a role of
leadership.

The Truth from Successful Leaders on How

You Can Become One Too

I’ve spent 30 years consulting with, coaching, being mentored by, study-
ing, and hanging out with CEOs of all types. Despite any downside to
the top job (as there is in every job), the ones who are there wouldn’t
want to be anywhere else.
To write this book, I called on a global group of 100+ CEO con-
tacts who’ve been mentors, sponsors, and clients over the years. Five
hours a day for seven months, I sat down and talked with them to get
new-age and age-old life and career management advice.
A Google search of “what is leadership” pulls up over 102 million
listings. Although a lot is written about the subject, only a little literally
comes from the “horse’s mouth.” Over the years, I’ve discovered that’s
how I like to learn—to shadow (not stalk, mind you!), go where they go,
do what they do, witness how they think, observe what their professional
and personal lives are about; and ask lots of questions about their expe-
riences and their lessons learned and earned. Every bit of helpful knowl-
edge I gathered, I want to pass on to you.
We discussed their thoughts on career advancement, life principles,
business theory, and recent scientific study in psychological, economic,
and organizational behavior. I asked what gets their attention as far as “up
and comers.” What do they know now that sure would have helped them
in their own climb. And how to facilitate being the one favorably talked
about behind closed doors.