Climbing the corporate ladder

Climbing the corporate ladder

By Vasileios Efthymiou

How do you think most of the biggest corporate ‘sharks’ managed to reach top job positions in as I call it the ‘major league’ companies? Was it due to their high intelligence, strong skills and competencies in managing huge corporations, and building good relationships with various stakeholders or maybe by following some bad practices in climbing the ‘corporate ladder’?

Think of the ‘corporate ladder system’ like the ‘snakes and ladders’ board game. The snake uses ladders to jump to the upper positions in the game each time. It is the same with those big corporate CEOs and high ranked employees in the business hierarchy. Firstly, they always work in companies where there is luck of a single man ownership that can decrease their decision-making power. They prefer big joint stock companies that the ownership and thus the control of the company and its future is divided in multiple shareholders that most of the times they have no idea of what it is going on in the company. They start from medium size corporations with their fancy degrees and big ambitions, in high positions and try to have short term wins at the end of each year.

But wins for who? Of course, for them, their CV and reputation in the industry. They do not form strategies for the prosperity of the company in the long term but instead for short term wins (i.e. increase in sales, revenues, share price, etc.) that will be attributed to their ‘unique’ leadership and capabilities in driving the organization to success. There is no need to say that those kind of strategies and achievements are what destroy most businesses. Then, they move on to better positions in bigger companies right away, before the ‘’catastrophic bomb’’ of their actions explodes in the hands of the next management team. Thus, when the consequences of those strategic decisions will negatively affect the organization, no one will ever chase them and accuse them for bad management practices and neglecting the overall good of the company. On the contrary, they will have taken a higher position in a bigger firm and the story will go on until you see them in the media as CEOs of the biggest corporations in the world…

How ethical do you find that? Is there a blur limit between individual and overall business success? What’s your view on that?

Watch this video that talks about how we increasingly make decisions based on short-term goals and gains and thus the future seems less safe...

Do you want to climb the corporate ladder? Read this article!

Stay tuned for my next blog about Job application process. Hints and tips.
You will have the chance to test yourself by completing some practice tests that recruiters will invite you to take! Practice now!