Leadership

In the UK, the CEO Path Runs Through Finance First

By Jessica Stillman

Updated on: May 15, 2008 / 1:15 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

The Find: If you want to get to the top of a large UK company, stay away from a new-fangled interest in soft skills and stick to mastering finance.
The Source: An analysis of the career paths of the CEOs atop the FTSE 100 and Standard & Poor's Global 100 companies by Robert Half.

The Takeaway: Of the 200 CEOs analyzed by recruitment firm Robert Half, 32 percent have a background in finance, including British Airways CEO Willie Walsh, who was Group Finance Director prior to his appointment to the top job and BP's Tony Hayward, a former Group Treasurer. Coming in second for the FTSE is a path that runs though marketing communications: Nine CEOs came up that way. For the S&P, engineering backgrounds were next most popular.

The findings give you the sense that, at least in the UK, all the focus on soft skills and creativity may be more of a bit of a side show. Phil Sheridan, managing director of Robert Half, sums it up: "Our analysis shows the world's leading companies continue to put a high significance on financial skills when choosing their boardroom leaders, and in the current economic environment this is unlikely to change."

The Question: Is finance truly a better training ground for CEOs than marketing or sales?