The path to top executive roles is less straightforward than it once was, with leaders often gaining experience across various industries, job functions and companies.
That's according to Aneesh Raman, chief economic opportunity officer at LinkedIn, who recently spoke with Fortune in a video interview.
"What’s changing about careers is that they used to be a ladder, and now they are a path," Mr. Raman, who also is a former CNN war correspondent and speechwriter to President Barack Obama, told the publication. "So you're seeing a bunch of people move around from different functions, whether it's starting in finance and going into HR."
A new report from LinkedIn, which examined the career and skills patterns of executives at S&P 500 firms and venture-backed U.S. "unicorn" companies, revealed the following:
- In 2023, 66% of executives worked in only one industry before their C-suite role, compared to 89.2% in 2018.
- Similarly, 59.4% of executives in 2023 had only worked in one job function, compared to 86.9% in 2018.
- More than 46.2% of C-suite members were internal hires last year, down 10% from 2018.
"The higher up you go, the more adaptability is going to become a required skill, and so the squiggly line just becomes a badge around adaptability," Mr. Raman told Fortune.
In healthcare, organizations have continued to see leaders from other industries. For example, Ben Shahshahani, PhD, was named Cleveland Clinic's first vice president and chief AI officer after working for SiriusXM and Pandora, while Marty Boryszak worked at UPS for 12 years before joining Buffalo, N.Y.-based Catholic Health in 2009. Mr. Boryszak currently serves as the system's senior vice president of acute care and president of Mercy Hospital of Buffalo.
Mr. Raman advised current and aspiring executives to "develop people skills, but start to find and feature curiosity."