Becoming an Executive: A Quantitative Look

September 16, 2016

Would-be executives are always searching for the path to success. Most of the advice they’re given is based on qualitative data, says LinkedIn Economist Guy Berger, so he decided to take a quantitative look at the likelihood of a worker becoming an executive.

Berger and his coauthors analyzed the career paths of LinkedIn members globally who worked at a Top 10 consultancy between 1990 and 2010 and became a VP, CXO or partner at a company with at least 200 employees.

Their analysis found that the probability of becoming an executive is merely 14 percent.

How can a would-be exec up the odds?

The study also details how strong of an effect each factor can have, showing how different choices could have increased one worker’s likelihood of becoming an executive from 15 percent to 81 percent.

For a look at the full study, see “How to Become an Executive.”