Abstract

The article presents tips on how aspiring managers can promote their own careers. Few studies that deal with executive development focus on the early progress of those who aspire to managerial jobs in industry. Fewer still have focused on the process by which young men move ahead. Studies of the social origins of business leaders, for example, describe the importance of social and educational advantages, but they have little to say about the ways in which men with social and educational advantages move from their initial assignments in industry to top managerial posts. Retrospective studies of how mature executives have achieved success are only as good as the executives' memories and understanding of events that took place fifteen to forty years earlier and because these studies deal with the past, they have limited pertinence in trying to anticipate the careers of young men who are now entering management. Psychometric studies of the personal characteristics of successful executives too often are content with correlations and are cautious in raising questions about process.