Common wisdom says that the coveted CEO title is usually secured by a senior functional leader from Marketing or Finance. Typically, leaders who have had a high-growth career trajectory straight out of one of the top tier b-schools. Is that really the case? According to a research, the genome of CEOs is not made of functional expertise or powerful roles but instead, it is a sequence of bold career moves. So can HR Managers also make CEOs? Read on for the answer and how these 4 CHROs made it big and made it count!
1. From Manufacturing to CEO via CHRO: Mary Barra, CEO - General Motors
Mary is a legendary CEO, celebrated as much as Jack Welch in American corporate circles. She heads the automobile giant which generated $127 billion in 2021, with a $10 billion profit. Remarkably, she started her career in GM as an engineering co-op student at Kettering University, working simultaneously at the Pontiac Motor Division. And, she’s still there, albeit in a very different role!
Starting as an ‘Acting Superintendent, Maintenance & Tooling/Senior Plant Engineer’, in 23 years she rose to Vice President – Global Manufacturing Engineering. After a year in this senior role, she served as Vice President – Global Human Resources during 2009-11. By 2014 she was the CEO, a position she holds to date.
Mary studied Engineering, after which she did her MBA from Stanford University. After rising to the top of the manufacturing department, she had stints in HR and Product Development before becoming CEO. She became the CHRO just as GM was attempting to tide over a major crisis, and managing people well was critical to overcoming it.
She even credits her stint in HR Management in helping her in subsequent roles, saying “the skillset you develop and understanding why do people do what they do.. you learn all about that from an HR perspective, and I think that has made me a lot better in the roles I had subsequently. Having an opportunity to understand the people systems, because talent is what distinguishes your company”
Career Insight: A stint in the HR department arms you with skills to perform well as a CEO.
2. From Sales to CEO via CHRO: Anne Mulcahy, CEO - Xerox
Anne Mulcahy is another celebrated CEO, who turned Xerox, then teetering with an $18 billion debt, into the market leader again. Among the many firsts to her credit, she became the first female CEO of a company as big as Xerox. Plus, she also oversaw the first female-to-female CEO succession with Ursula Burns, who became the first female African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Anne did her bachelor of arts degree in English/Journalism at Marymount College, N.Y., in 1974. After a failed attempt to become a writer, she joined Xerox as a Field Sales Representative in 1976. She rose up the sales and management hierarchy, becoming VP - HR in 1992. Anne was promoted to Chief Staff Officer in 1997, and also served as President and COO, before becoming the CEO in 2001. She retired in 2009.
Anne had no prior HR experience or expertise before she entered the HR department. But the key point to note is that before she became the CEO, she had worked in nearly every department at Xerox, making her a frontrunner for the top position. In hindsight, all of this was a happy coincidence, as she claims she was never groomed for the job.
She’d go on to allude to her role in the ‘people’ department as a key to helping her orchestrate one of the most stunning turnarounds in corporate history. She said, “Thinking about your business, in terms of motivating a workforce, to me, is one of the most important aspects of leadership. I had the support of the Xerox people - 100%.”
Career Insight: While motivating people is a crucial skill for a leader, inspiring an entire organization is priceless, and a CHRO background helps immensely.
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3. From Chemicals to CEO Via CHRO: Bernard Fontana, CEO, Framatome
Bernard Fontana has worn many hats. Armed with a degree in engineering, he started his career with the French state-owned SNPE, highly renowned for its expertise in chemical synthesis. He rose up to become a member of the Executive Committee, leading the Chemicals & Industrial Explosives divisions at the company.
Bernard then shifted to ArcelorMittal as VP, heading HR, IT & business development in 2004. By 2006 he became EVP, coordinating the global alliance with Nippon Steel. In 2010 he rose to CEO of Aperam, an ArcelorMittal spinoff. A year later, he became the CEO of Swiss building material MNC Holcim, before joining his current role as CEO of French nuclear reactor supplier Framatome.
For Bernard, becoming the CHRO was an essential step to becoming CEO. He recalls that when he was 30, his CEO spoke about his own stint heading HR, and advised Bernard that the experience would be of immense benefit if he ever became CEO.
Bernard even feels that being a CHRO is a critical milestone if you want to become CEO. He explains, ‘Transformations are times of opportunity for a company, but they’re also times of uncertainty for employees. That’s something you need to acknowledge and turn into a strength. With HR experience, you’re more aware of certain situations.’
Career Insight: A stint as the CHRO is often part of the grooming process of a CEO.
4. From HRM to CEO via CHRO: Amit Malik, CEO & MD, AVIVA India
Amit Malik started conventionally in the HR department of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, after completing his MBA in HR Management in 1999. He started as Regional HR manager for Sales – North. After a 4 year stint as Manager at American Express, he joined ABN-AMRO Bank as Vice President of HR.
Amit soon added HR Business Partner to his designation, before joining Bank of America with the same designation - Vice President & HR Business Partner. His career shifted when he moved to Aviva India in 2012, with an 8-year stint as Chief People Officer, after which he rose to the top spot in 2021 - CEO & MD, a position he holds to date.
While most of his career may have been typical to his peers, what stands out is his efforts to upskill. Unlike most people, he wasn’t satisfied with his MBA from a top Indian college. He studied Strategic Human Resources Practices & Human Resources Development at Cornell University in 2011. During 2013-14, he also enrolled in Expanding Horizons (General Management leadership course) at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
Another fact that stands out is his visionary HR outlook. During an interview with InsideIIM in 2015, half a decade before the pandemic and #WFH, he stated, ‘Flexible work arrangements are important because you have to understand that work and personal life have, to a large extent, integrated. We’re moving towards work-life integration, rather than work-life balance. We are looking at how to integrate work and personal life.’
Career Insight: Upskilling in the HRM domain, having a vision, as well as a passion for the business side of things, pays off incredibly well.
If you’d like to become CEO, irrespective of your domain, a good grasp of HR Management and Analytics will give you a solid foundation on which to build your career ambitions. And there can’t be a better foundation than AltUni’s HR Management & Analytics Program. You can learn from HR leaders of HUL & UNICEF, and it will give you the winning edge in the knowledge economy. Read till the end!
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