If you’ve set your sights on reaching the enviable position of CEO, our ten top tips will help prepare you. They’ll show you how to develop your career with the skills, personal traits, philosophies and experiences to put you on the right path to become CEO.

Seize career opportunities

CEOs need wide knowledge of their companies, so zig-zag your way up the organisation. As you gain experience and learn skills in different aspects of the business you’ll be better placed to become CEO.

Work your contacts

Allocate time in your schedule for seeking and making contact with new people. Meanwhile, keep your network of contacts active so that old contacts that may seem unnecessary now can be brought back into the network if the need arises later.

Set your sights

Define your key objectives – four or five at most – and then concentrate only on them. If you’re doing something that is not directed towards your goals, ask yourself why. You need to shape your every action to achieving the objectives you’ve set yourself to become CEO.

Act decisively

Avoid ‘analysis paralysis’ – the inability to make a decision because it may have an unwanted outcome. One of the differences between the CEO and other managers is that they go for it, rather than covering themselves against failure. Build yourself as a decisive person and identify yourself as someone capable of being CEO.

Play to your strengths

Being talented is just the start, to become CEO you need to know what your talents are, understand their value, and then find or create the context that best suits them. Enlist a mentor to check that your assessment of your talents bears the scrutiny of another person.

Accept the challenge

Look for jobs in parts of the business that are struggling – you’ll learn more and enhance your reputation if you get them right. You should also be prepared to welcome accountability and take responsibility for achieving objectives in order to develop.

Do your research

Act as though you were already in an executive position and know your customers inside out. To become CEO you need to fully understand your customers; so talk to them, watch them shopping and predict what they want next.

Look after the pennies

Spend company money as though it were your own - when you’re CEO it will be your own. Pay attention to even the smallest details of waste and remember that a small increase in costs often causes a large decrease in profits.

Brand yourself

Brand yourself within – and outside of – the company, and articulate your value to others. Do what you love, and integrate your passions with your job tasks. Then identify a network of relationships that will support this personal brand and help you to become CEO.

Think long-term

Invest now for the future - business is a long-term activity and planning your strategy is as important as seizing opportunities. Think a year ahead and ask: “What innovation could I be kicking myself about when someone else does it?”

For more takeaway tips on how to become CEO, plus priceless insight into the inner workings of the worlds best, check out 1000 CEOs. A collection of profiles analysing each individual’s style, 1000 CEOs charts the rise of the world’s most influential leaders. Learn their secrets, share their success.

Find out more about 1000 CEOs