# Executive Selection Process By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-10-26 How does one become an executive? It can be a varied process. Some executives are self-appointed. When one creates a company, it is not uncommon for that person to become the company's executive. Some executives become so through heredity. Again, when one creates a company, and after one appoints oneself as the executive, one might pass on the position to one’s child. Some executives get promoted through the ranks of the organization. Such an executive has “worked one’s way up” to the top. Some executives buy their way to the top. They purchase the company and then become the executive. External boards appoint some executives based on an assessment of their qualifications. Whatever the path, the executive selection process produces mixed results. Interestingly, executives seem to have more understanding than workers. Underperforming workers are routinely fired. Underperforming executives seldom lose their jobs. Effective executives are rare. Most stay busy and keep the organization operating. Most executives operate in the space between success and failure. This can be frustrating for those working in the organization. This can be especially frustrating for those working in the organization focused on improving organizational performance. Analysts often fall into this category of employees. Like Plato’s “Philosopher-Kings,” it is not necessarily the case that analysts would make better executives. It is just that analysts have a front-row seat for observing mediocrity in action. It is painful to watch. If executive selection were important, some form of standardization would be enacted. Like other processes, analysis would focus on refining the process to monitor, control, and improve outcomes. Since the processes and results are so varied, and almost no analytic attention is given to this area within organizations, one can only conclude that it must make very little difference. Well, it makes very little difference if one cares little about the quality of life of those subjected to the executive selected through a largely unexamined process. #### Related Items [[Executives]] [[Choice]] [[Hiring]] [[Analytics]] [[Work]] [[Process]] [[Organization]]