Turn Yourself Into CEO Material. Now

Wherever you are in your career, it's time to start developing leadership abilities—no fancy degrees or country club memberships required

By Debra Benton

In your workplace there are people behind closed doors right now, looking for someone to promote or develop for a larger role. When your name comes up, you want one of them to say, "[Your name] is someone we're watching. We need a half dozen more like [your name]. [Your name] could be a leader in any organization—real CEO material."

An endorsement from the right person at the right time can float you to the top. On the other hand, it takes only one comment such as these to sink you: "She lies." "He doesn't listen." "She blames others." "He demeans his team." A lot of organizations have formal guidelines for promoting people. All organizations have informal methods for evaluating and advancing people. My conversations with top executives continually confirm that the informal trumps the formal nearly every time.

Regardless of the evaluation method your employer uses, you can increase your chances of rising to the very top by doing the following 10 things from the very beginning.

1. Engage yourself in the good kind of ambition. It's okay to be ambitious. Do it with integrity and optimism. You get only one reputation in life. Without a good one, the rest is insignificant. There is no win, no advantage, no victory worth even a blemish on your integrity.

2. Develop extraordinary competence in your specialty. You need substance. Produce outstanding results that add major value in one of the big areas of your business. Do it on time, under budget, and without a big hassle. You also need style. It shows executive immaturity to think that substance is sufficient. Exhibit a style in dealing with people that enables, helps, and guides them to achieve good results, whether they're part of your team or not.

3. Show self-confidence. No one is confident about everything. High-potential people are confident in at least one big thing and preferably more. With confidence, you make decisions sooner because achievement—not fear of failure—is the driving force behind your actions. Surround yourself with people who are better than you. Hire and develop the right people because you aren't jealous of their abilities. To acquire more confidence, do something every day that's scary for you.

4. Make a huge investment in yourself. You don't have a chance of being CEO without lots of information. Be a constant learner. A good thing to learn is global awareness. Ask for a foreign assignment if your company has them. Recruit a diverse team. Learn a second language. Watch Squawk Australia, Business Russia, and Bloomberg Asia (Bloomberg Asia is owned by the same company that owns Bloomberg BusinessWeek). Most cable or satellite feeds have these shows and many more.

5. Be an active communicator. Ask questions and volunteer information, then communicate some more. Get feedback. Miscommunication occurs when you assume you were heard and understood. Be aware of what you're saying—and what you say about yourself when you are or aren't talking. When you speak, go for the crispest, simplest, least-elegant language possible. If the other person doesn't understand you, it's your fault.

6. Choose your bosses carefully. Manage your own destiny. Try to get a good boss or get out from under a bad boss.Meanwhile, be willing to work for a boss you don't like and still make the boss look good and smart. Don't bounce around, but move every 2½ years to a broader role with more complex responsibilities.

7. Stand out, yet still fit in. To be promoted, you have to be visible to a wide range of people. It's very easy to become invisible.