How to become a CEO in Australia
What’s driving you to learn how to become a CEO? That’s the question Paleka encourages you to ask yourself. Is it because you really want to be a leader and have an impact? Or is it because you think it’s the right job to aspire to?
“A CEO job is incredibly tough and stressful, and you need to make a lot of sacrifices,” she says. “I don’t think many CEOs look back on their career and say they did it for the power or the money. They’ll often say they did it to make a difference and evoke positive change.”
While it can be one of the most challenging jobs, it can also be the most rewarding.
If you’re ready to learn how to become a CEO, there isn’t just one path to follow. The journey you take needs to align with your values and strengths. It may involve a career change from where you are or further training and qualifications to build up your skill base.
The following guide offers an example of what your career path may look like as you work towards becoming a CEO in Australia:
1. Get an undergraduate degree
Pursue your undergraduate education and graduate with a bachelor's degree in a business-related field like business administration, management or economics. Courses in these business areas will help you develop your business acumen and skills. This qualification also allows you more career opportunities when you enter the business world as a fresh graduate. If you're a working professional looking to switch careers but don't have a background in business, earning a bachelor's degree can offer you a solid foundation for your transition.
You can also work on your leadership skills by taking the lead in group assignments and joining student organisations and clubs. Being involved in extracurricular activities along with your peers can help you develop skills in communication, time management and decision-making. These experiences can complement your formal theoretical knowledge and demonstrate your value as an all-rounder to prospective employers.
2. Obtain work experience
A CEO is expected to have extensive experience in their industry. As you begin and progress in your career, you will likely be working in various roles in your preferred sector. It's important for you to familiarise yourself with your industry's best practices as you continue to hone your technical and soft skills as a business professional.
The more industry experience you gain, the higher the chances for you to enter mid-level positions. Your duties may involve supervising team members, managing projects and executing strategies provided by upper management. You can also learn various leadership styles from senior management if you work in multiple business organisations. This can help you determine which style works best for you and the company when you become a CEO.
3. Acquire a postgraduate degree
Furthering your education with a postgraduate qualification can help elevate your career in the long run, especially as an aspiring company leader. An MBA is a popular choice among working professionals as the curriculum equips students with a comprehensive understanding of various business areas, such as finance, human resources and marketing. You can study a general MBA to gain skills to become a versatile manager or pursue an MBA with a specialisation that's relevant to your industry.
A postgraduate degree can improve your credibility as a working professional and open doors to higher-level positions. Some employers even require candidates to have a relevant master's degree.
During your studies, you can also take advantage of the networking opportunities available around you. You can connect with like-minded peers, faculty members and even industry experts for your personal and professional development.
4. Take on senior-level roles
Besides industry knowledge, leadership experience is typically required for many CEO positions. This will likely involve working in a variety of senior leadership jobs before finally landing a CEO role. Business professionals may achieve this by climbing the corporate ladder and being promoted internally or securing leadership roles in various companies. Your responsibilities will cover more areas as you obtain more autonomy in matters regarding business operations and performance.
Gaining experience working in these roles can help you build a strong portfolio as an aspiring CEO. Companies seek CEOs with a proven track record of implementing successful high-level business strategies as well as leading teams. You also need to have a solid professional network, which can be done by creating and maintaining relationships with the people you work with throughout your career.
If you’re aiming for the top position at a company, understanding the basics of how to become a CEO is the first step.
It’s important to map out a career path and attain the right qualifications to fast-track your success. As with any leadership position, it’s less about the job titles you hold and more about the skills and experience you collect along the way.
We share the information you need to prepare you for a CEO-bound career, no matter where you're at in your journey.
What is a CEO?
Maja Paleka is the co-founder and director of Juggle Strategies, a consultancy firm that works with organisations to define the future of work. Not only is she in a CEO role herself, but she also works with CEOs across various organisations on a daily basis.
“At a high level, it’s the CEO’s responsibility to look after the health of the organisation,” Paleka explains. “In privately-held organisations, the CEO needs to ensure that the business is profitable and growing in the right direction. To do that, you manage the financial and overall performance of the organisation.”
However, a CEO's responsibility to look after the people inside the organisation is just as important.
Paleka explains there are several traits that you need to succeed as a CEO.
“There are often biases attached to what people think a CEO should look like. Typically, people think that a good CEO is confident and extroverted, but that’s slowly changing.
“There’s a lot to be said for a CEO who can inspire their people and who is comfortable with making decisions. But also, a CEO is someone who should value and understand people. If you can do this, then you’re much more likely to deliver results, particularly in times of uncertainty or instability.”
This ability to understand people is also what helps a strong CEO build the right team around them. While the CEO’s role is important, if they don’t have the right team to support them, they carry a greater weight of the burden on their shoulders.
Lastly, Paleka says that another strength of many successful CEOs is self-awareness.
“As a CEO, you need to know where your strengths – and your weaknesses – lie. If you have the self-awareness to know that empathy isn’t your strength, you can make sure that you surround yourself with people that can help you when you need it.”
If you think about what a CEO is responsible for day to day, there are many other skills you’ll need. These include:
- Effective problem-solving
- Strong communication
- Inspiring leadership
- Strategic thinking
- Teamwork and delegation
- Broad business experience
- Industry knowledge
As a CEO, you will also need to quickly develop trust with your team, board of executives and any other stakeholders. This trust is key to how successful you’ll be in your role.
Courses to become a CEO
Do you need a degree to be a CEO? Not necessarily. But it does help. Research has shown that 22.3 per cent of top global CEOs have an MBA. It’s a common degree to acquire in order to become a CEO.
Paleka says that the benefit of an MBA is that it gives you a varied perspective.
“If you haven’t had the opportunity to get across different general management areas in finance, marketing and sales, then an MBA is a great idea. It gives you the broad base of knowledge that you’ll need. You can also build those experiences into your career and get exposure to different areas of the business.”
Paleka is an MBA graduate herself. She advocates for MBAs for aspiring CEOs because of the knowledge and experience you gain through the course. She knows firsthand the career benefits that come from completing an MBA.
“A CEO ultimately has to be a good general manager. But you also need an appreciation of how things will fit together, how operations will fit together with finance and how human resources and people fit together.
“When I started my MBA, I knew what my strengths and weaknesses were. Coming from an engineering background, I had never studied finance. As a CEO, you’re responsible for the financial health of the organisation. Gaining that understanding of corporate finance and accounting through my MBA was so important for me. It gave me exposure to all those areas of learning that are important as a CEO.”
The value of an MBA for accelerating your pathway to a career as a CEO is quite clear. There are the skills you gain, as well as the professional network you have access to through your studies and beyond.
The challenge for many people is balancing studies with an already busy professional and personal life. Today, there are many online MBA options. These online MBAs offer flexible delivery methods so you can more easily balance your study with everything else that’s going on in your life. They can also often be more affordable than a traditional MBA.
Online MBA in leadership courses
In Australia, various institutions offer MBA specialisations related to leadership. Some of these programs are also available online, allowing you to study while balancing your personal and work commitments.
Students of CQUniversity’s online Master of Business Administration (Leadership) are not restricted by term dates and submission deadlines. In this course, you will learn important business functions and leadership principles in contemporary business settings. Some units include People, Leadership and Culture, Communication for Leadership Success and Strategies for Business Leaders.
Charles Darwin University offers an online Master of Business Administration Sustainable Leadership which emphasises how businesses can generate profit while operating in a sustainable manner. You can gain the capabilities to lead sustainable enterprises with units such as Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Design Thinking for Sustainable Innovation and Resilience Management and Leadership.
The online Master of Business Administration (Policy Leadership) from the University of New South Wales is catered to those seeking to enter leadership roles in public administration and management. Some of the units featured in this part-time program are Adaptive Leadership, Managing People and Organisations and The Business of Managing Projects.
CQUniversity’s Master of Business (Leadership) is an online program designed for entrepreneurs, business owners and corporate managers. This course allows you to gain insights into the strategies, practices and key communication skills underpinning effective business leadership. Delivered entirely online, this program offers you an affordable, fresh and compelling graduate educational experience. You will not be bound by term dates or submission deadlines, allowing you to study when it's convenient for you.
The curriculum covers essential business functions and emphasizes leadership in contemporary business settings. This course will develop your capabilities to identify opportunities, resolve problems, create innovative solutions and be entrepreneurial.
The Master of Business Administration Sustainable Leadership program will guide you through how businesses can operate both profitably and in a manner that supports society, the economy and the environment.
You can gain core MBA competencies and the essential knowledge and skills required by sustainable enterprises and businesses of the future. This includes learning how to develop effective sustainability and CSR strategies, design and implement sustainability initiatives, and provide sustainability disclosure and reporting.
If you’re trying to decide between studying a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), the MBAX (Policy Leadership) offers the best of both worlds. The program covers key topics that are typically studied in an MPA degree, however, they’re combined with the foundational business skills associated with an MBA.
Capitalise on the flexibility of this course and work full-time while you study. Personalise your experience by choosing between online classes, face-to-face learning or a combination of both. Learn from leading practitioners from a range of policy, government and business backgrounds, and develop a network of peers and future colleagues through interactive, immersive learning and shared experiences.
Lay the foundation of your CEO career with an online MBA
As you define your path to a CEO career, consider how an MBA can help to accelerate your professional learning. With options to specialise in a particular area or give you strong generalist leadership knowledge, you can get the experience you need for the next step.
When you’re ready to start your postgraduate journey, explore various MBA courses available across Australian institutions. Find the right program that aligns with your professional aspirations to become a CEO.