CEOs Who Rose Through Ranks in Their Companies
In an era where job hopping is a norm, it is difficult to find individuals who have stuck with one company and worked their way through the ranks to where they are today. However, it is not impossible as shown by the following chief executive officers who began in various positions in their companies, from distribution, marketing, customer care, to assembly line.
Alex Gorsky
Gorsky’s career at Johnson & Johnson Company began in 1988 when he became a sales rep and through the years, he occupied various positions in the company’s management, sales, and marketing department. He was named as its CEO and chairperson in 2012 where he is responsible for ensuring that very process runs smoothly and oversees the adoption of the right strategies.
Gorsky believes that a CEO’s do not have to be perfect, instead, they should strive to win people’s minds and hearts. Through his leadership, the company has continued to uphold its mission to meet the world’s unmet healthcare needs and continue to deliver sustainable, purposeful, and innovative growth for its stakeholders.
Karen Kaplan
In 1982, at the age of 22, Karen Kaplan became a receptionist at Hill Holiday hoping to save money for law school. However, she ended up rising through company ranks, holding a total of 16 titles through the years and becoming the CEO and chairperson. She is in charge of Trilia Media, Hill Holiday, and Erwin Penland agency brands and manages workforce, made up of over 50% women.
Kaplan is one of the few women in the United States who are chairpersons of agencies. She took her responsibility at the company seriously from the beginning, she did not consider her receptionist job as a way to bide time.
Abigael Johnson
Although her father, Edward C. Johnson was Fidelity Investments Inc.’s longtime CEO, Abigael Johnson had to start from the bottom before taking over the company’s top job in 2014. She worked as a service operator and took customer orders during the summer before college. She then became an analyst at the company in 1988, after college and occupied various positions at Fidelity through the years.
Fidelity Investment manages approximately $2.46 trillion assets and Johnson owns about 24.5% of the stake. The company deals with financial planning, investment and wealth management, life insurance, and mutual funds and many more.
Chris Rondeau
Before becoming Planet Fitness’ CEO in 2013, Chris Rondeau held several positions in the company, including various management and Chief Operating Officer (COO) roles. He started out in 1993 as the desk receptionist. Rondeau has played a huge role in developing and refining extraordinary, cost-effective and high value business model and efficient operating system that revolutionized the franchising and fitness industry.
Michael Corbat
Corbat joined Salomon Brothers’ sales department after graduating from Hazard University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics; the company later merged with Citigroup. He later became the firms head of global corporate and global wealth management’s CEO. Corbat was named the CitiGroup CEO in 2012; the bank operates in over 160 countries and has about 200 million client accounts.
As the CEO Corbat has worked to make the company a safer, simpler, stronger, and smaller institution. He is committed to the group’s mission to achieve economic progress and growth for its shareholders. Furthermore, Corbat’s focus lies in serving CitiGroup’s customers with the highest ethical standards and strong execution.
Mary T. Barra
She secured a job at General Motors assembly line, inspecting fenders and woods at the age of 18 years then became the company’s Pontiac Motors Division co-op student in 1980. Since then, she held several titles like global human resources’ Vice President.
Barra became the General Motors CEO in 2014 and the chairperson in 2016, making her the first ever female to hold an automobile company top job. Under the leadership of Barra, GM intends to save lives and envisions a world with no congestion, crashes, emissions and a healthier planet for the future generations.
It takes hard work and determination to work your way from entry positions to the highest rank. By remaining true to your dreams and working for them, you can achieve what these CEOs have done and more.