Lifers - Less Than 20% of Business Leaders Come Up Through the Ranks, But If You Stick Around ...

So much of current business news is about executive comings and goings. Right now less than 20 percent of leaders are "lifers," that is that they did most of their careers in a single organization. That's about half what it had been in 1980.

"Job hopping" wasn't always the trend in professional life. Back in the 20th century, as the post-war economic boom took off, the model of success was to get hired by one of those large-getting-larger organizations and "work your way up." Unfortunately, many careers stalled at middle management. But, despite the disappointment you tended to remain until retirement. After all, it was the game you knew. There would be a retirement package. Meanwhile the benefits were good and the ethos was paternalistic. 

Then the model crashed. A primary driver was that American business was no longer the top dog in international trade. The Japanese and Germans were gaining market share through better quality and lower pricing. Enter Jack Welch with corporate downsizing for cost-reduction. Along with that was the supposed synergy of mergers, which created redundancies in manpower. The new entity only needed one Investor Relations function.

However, there have been exceptions. They include in corporate GM's Mary Barra, Walmart's Doug McMillon and Disney's Bob Iger. 

Over in professional services, there's Brad Karp who, LinkedIn celebrates, has been with law firm Paul Weiss for more than 40 years. He started as a summer intern, did a clerkship, then settled in for good. He is 64. The retirement age at Paul Weiss is 70 but, of course, there are ways to dodge that bullet. 

An advantage of the lifer route is this: the diverse experience but in a context you deeply understand. Overall, as the CEB documents, the failure rate for executives in new roles is 50 to 70 percent. Incidentally that even applies to those leaders who have been with the organization for a long time. 

The reality is that transitions are filled with peril. So if the executives get through them they can be hailed as heroes. Actually those challenging times are the best of times to build a legacy. 

Since he became chair in 2008, Karp has steered the organization through The Great Recession, COVID, technology change, accelerated global competition and the upheaval triggered by the Trump administration. 

In coaching I guide clients to embrace chaos as a gift. Typically it's the source of opportunity. In the military the most upward mobility comes in time of war.

Scared by the uncertainty? Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and startups. Complimentary consultation with Intuitive Coach Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com).