The Five Career Paths

Welcome to Headhunter Secrets, where I’ll share perspectives about the search business. We hope you’ll use our services to execute searches. Nonetheless, I wanted to give you some insights I’ve gained from doing search work since I was 23 years old.

Headhunter’s Secrets:
The Five Career Paths

There are millions of jobs out there, yet when we step back almost all fall into one of five career paths. 

The five career paths are:

1. Technical 
2. Commercial
3. Managerial
4. Leadership
5. Entrepreneurial

Each one of these paths is of course a bit different. Not everyone is naturally suited for each path. Some people over time train themselves to be better at one. And some people master enough of each that they end up as a CEO.

Those who follow a technical career path are most interested, and find comfort being immersed, in the detail of whatever field they are employed. Technical work usually involves responsibilities that require specialized knowledge, skills and expertise in a specific field. Technically inclined people are most comfortable with numbers and/or rules. Some technically oriented people can reach technical managerial roles (operations management), but a technical career path is generally too narrow to lead to a significant C-level role.

Those who follow a commercial career path—one where the work is centered around revenue generation and customer or client interactions—tend to be gregarious, highly social and good at telling stories and influencing people. A number of these people start their careers in a technical role but find they are more commercially oriented. People who are successful in commercial roles understand the technical things they must sell and are gifted at getting customers to place the order.

Those who end up in a managerial career path tend to be empathetic. They have a desire to help their team and are good at guiding a team in their tasks. Great managers tend to be reasonably capable technicians, but they are better at helping great technicians be great at what they do. People on a commercial path can also end up managing the overall commercial aspects of a business, which can include operations.

Those who achieve a leadership career path start out in a technical or commercial role, then make their way into a managerial role. Great managers with high emotional intelligence and the ability to grasp the other career paths generally reach the C-level, maybe even become a CEO. 

C-Level achievers master a technical or commercial role then a managerial role, and then show the capacity to fill a strategic leadership role. They can manage the day-to-day, and they have a strategic grasp on their customers, competitors and larger economic circumstances. Their capacity to understand and navigate both the micro and macro makes them good at analyzing current operations as they simultaneously project and plan for the future,

CEOs understand the big picture as well as their company’s various commercial, operating and administrative functions. They can communicate the challenges to their team in a way that inspires them to push the bounds of their performance and potential. Great leaders are also able to gain the confidence of suppliers and customers. 

Those who choose an entrepreneurial career path have difficulty joining a group and instead seek to carve their own path, despite their competence level. Entrepreneurial success, which is by no means guaranteed, comes when an entrepreneur is at the front end of the capability bell curve, is insanely persistent and/or is in the right place at the right time.

Most people are naturally inclined to stick with one of these career paths, while a few have the desire and malleability to adapt to different paths. 

There is no right or wrong career path. In the end, there’s only one CEO at each company, whether it has 10 or 100,000 employees. But everyone can have a successful career so long as they live within their means and follow the three words that lead people to success—which is the subject of my next essay.

Hope these insights are helpful. 

We at Leyendecker have been doing search work for 40 years. We’ve completed over 100 C-level searches, most for CFOs. Most have been PE portfolio companies, but we’ve also helped owner/managed and publicly-held companies. Our placements have helped their employers go through almost 50 successful liquidity events.  

Keep us in mind when you seek talent that will get you over the goal line! Hope you have a great year!

Doug