Launch your career on the right trajectory

But we do know that cer?tain choic?es, espe?cial?ly ear?ly in one?s career, can set peo?ple on tra?jec?to?ries that increase the like?li?hood of long-term career suc?cess. So, a?key ques?tion for gain?ing more gen?der equal?i?ty in the c-suite seems to be: How can we max?i?mize the chances of suc?cess for our most promis?ing young women as they start their careers?

Through inter?views and sur?veys with hun?dreds of suc?cess?ful female exec?u?tives, we?ve iden?ti?fied the post-col?lege years as crit?i?cal to set?ting a?strong career tra?jec?to?ry. Get?ting it???right? in this decade can pay off for women lat?er in their?30s with faster pro?mo?tions and bet?ter career options, lead?ing to even big?ger oppor?tu?ni?ties and finan?cial rewards in their?40s,?50s, and beyond. Con?verse?ly, get?ting it???wrong? ear?ly on can have dis?pro?por?tion?ate costs over the course of one?s work?ing life, espe?cial?ly if such???wrongs? aren?t right?ed in the sub?se?quent decade.

For women, the cost of a?weak launch is even high?er than for their male peers, because the?30s are typ?i?cal?ly more chal?leng?ing due to grow?ing fam?i?ly respon?si?bil?i?ties. That means there is less time and ener?gy avail?able to make up for a?slow start.

So, what exact?ly does it mean to get the launch right?

The Four Cor?ner?stones of a?Suc?cess?ful Launch?

While every suc?cess?ful c-suite career has a?unique tra?jec?to?ry, there is a?com?mon set of under?stand?ings and capa?bil?i?ties that suc?cess?ful senior exec?u?tives gain on their jour?ney to the c-suite. Opti?mal?ly, these four insights and skill cor?ner?stones that will form a?leader?s foun?da?tion?al knowl?edge are acquired begin?ning in the launch phase.

1. Peo?ple Management?

Suc?cess?ful exec?u?tives know how to man?age peo?ple. The build?ing blocks of peo?ple man?age?ment include learn?ing how to?1) man?age your own per?for?mance,?2) man?age your report?ing rela?tion?ship with your boss,?3) man?age your per?for?mance as a?team mem?ber, and lat?er?4) man?age a?small team. The post-col?lege decade is the ide?al time to gain this experience.

Learn?ing how to set and deliv?er on real?is?tic per?for?mance expec?ta?tions is key. This means hold?ing your?self account?able for doing what you say you will by the dead?lines you have agreed to (and if you can?t meet them, antic?i?pat?ing that and let?ting peo?ple know in advance when they can expect your work). It means hold?ing your direct reports account?able to the same stan?dards and know?ing when and how to chip in at a?high?er lev?el to assure that your team hits its?goals.

2. Busi?ness Core Knowledge?

Suc?cess?ful exec?u?tives learn ear?ly on about core func?tions, busi?ness process?es, and how they inter?con?nect. The launch years are the time to gain mas?tery in one func?tion such as finance, account?ing, or mar?ket?ing, while simul?ta?ne?ous?ly build?ing a?basic under?stand?ing of all the oth?er func?tions. This is the time to learn how the var?i?ous func?tions con?nect through an organization?s report?ing struc?ture and how oth?er???con?nec?tive tis?sues? (e.g., reg?u?lar reports and meet?ings) dri?ve deci?sion-mak?ing, account?abil?i?ty, and performance.

3. Orga?ni?za?tion?al and Strate?gic Curiosity?

Lead?ing at the top also requires under?stand?ing how orga?ni?za?tions change over time and how orga?ni?za?tion?al cul?tures can either help or hurt the change process. To the extent that a?young pro?fes?sion?al can use the ear?ly career years to devel?op curios?i?ty about orga?ni?za?tion?al cul?ture and pol?i?tics (not just where deci?sions get made, but how), a?career will progress more smooth?ly. It is also a?good time to start track?ing the busi?ness media to learn about the ever-evolv?ing eco?nom?ic, social, and polit?i?cal forces that influ?ence orga?ni?za?tion?al choic?es and performance.

4. Rela?tion?ship- and Net?work-build?ing Skills?

Suc?cess?ful exec?u?tives nur?ture and expand their web of rela?tion?ships over the course of their careers. The launch years are the time to begin that process by get?ting to know well a?group of peo?ple in a?cohort, team, and func?tion. It?s also a?time to get to know some of the peo?ple in oth?er work?places. By work?ing, eat?ing, and social?iz?ing togeth?er, young pro?fes?sion?als begin to acquire a?group of peo?ple at a?sim?i?lar career stage whom they can call on for help and advice as their careers progress.

Ear?ly Career Accelerators?

While many path?ways can lead to the c-suite, there is a?set of high?ly com?pet?i?tive, entry-lev?el jobs that offer some of the most reli?able oppor?tu?ni?ties for acquir?ing the core busi?ness skills and expe?ri?ences indi?cat?ed above. We call them???ear?ly career accel?er?a?tors? and describe them briefly below.

Despite the obvi?ous advan?tages these jobs can pro?vide, research tells us that women often shy away from apply?ing for them. The gen?er?al per?cep?tion is that these com?pet?i?tive jobs require long hours and oper?at?ing in tough work envi?ron?ments. And, at least from a?dis?tance, they don?t feel par?tic?u?lar?ly moti?vat?ing to women as long-term career options. When it comes to busi?ness school, some of the same per?cep?tions, as well as the daunt?ing list price, can make that feel like a?poor fit?too.

Man?age?ment Consulting

The sheer diver?si?ty and mag?ni?tude of projects and peo?ple one is like?ly to encounter work?ing for a?con?sult?ing firm make this an excel?lent start?ing point for almost any career, help?ing a?young pro?fes?sion?al progress in all four key devel?op?ment areas. Indeed, even just two years in con?sult?ing ear?ly on can make a?big dif?fer?ence. Just look at the list of alum?ni from these firms???they?re lead?ing orga?ni?za?tions across all indus?tries, sec?tors, and geographies.

Bank?ing and Finance?

Tak?ing a?job that helps solid?i?fy an under?stand?ing of the basics of finance and how and why cer?tain projects get fund?ed, while oth?ers don?t, is time well spent. Being com?fort?able talk?ing to banks and nav?i?gat?ing income state?ments, bud?gets, cash flows, and bal?ance sheets is valu?able for all future lead?ers. And the oppor?tu?ni?ties to engage with dif?fer?ent kinds of clients across a?vari?ety of indus?tries broad?en per?spec?tives and rela?tion?al skills and can jump?start one?s network.

Blue-chip Cor?po?ra?tions

While work?ing for blue-chip cor?po?ra?tions won?t like?ly pro?vide the same breadth of expo?sure or the hands-on expe?ri?ence that some con?sult?ing and finance path?ways do, these com?pa?nies offer some of the most reli?able man?age?ment train?ing pro?grams. These pro?grams are known for devel?op?ing func?tion?al exper?tise, fos?ter?ing orga?ni?za?tion?al and strate?gic aware?ness, and build?ing key rela?tion?ships. They pro?vide a?low?er-trav?el envi?ron?ment and excel?lent devel?op?ment. More?over, get?ting hired by one adds instant cred?i?bil?i?ty to a?resume.

Small Busi?ness?es

One route less fre?quent?ly talked about, but which we are bull?ish on based on our inter?views, is the oppor?tu?ni?ty to work for a?small?er, fast-grow?ing com?pa?ny. Here, we are talk?ing about com?pa?nies that have estab?lished them?selves beyond the start?up phase. As these orga?ni?za?tions expand and move to put a?basic func?tion?al struc?ture in place, bright young?20-some?things often find that they can get hands-on expe?ri?ence in man?ag?ing peo?ple, learn?ing the basics of busi?ness and how and why deci?sions get made. While small?er firms may not yet have estab?lished man?age?ment-train?ing pro?grams, best-in-class poli?cies and prac?tices, or even a?full-time?HR?per?son, the evi?dence from the many suc?cess?ful women we inter?viewed sug?gests that ear?ly hands-on expe?ri?ence see?ing how all facets of a?busi?ness work togeth?er, albeit on a?small?er scale, can prove invaluable.

Busi?ness School

The oth?er obvi?ous career accel?er?a?tor our research iden?ti?fied???admit?ted?ly, not sur?pris?ing?ly, giv?en our start?ing point inter?view?ing suc?cess?ful Kel?logg alum?nae???is attend?ing a?top busi?ness school. Ben?e?fits cit?ed include a?thor?ough under?stand?ing of busi?ness basics, broad access to busi?ness thought lead?ers and CEOs, expo?sure to a?broad array of orga?ni?za?tions, ear?ly rela?tion?ship build?ing, and exten?sive expe?ri?ences in peer team man?age?ment???all deliv?ered in a?rel?a?tive?ly short peri?od of?time.

If we are going to get more women into the c-suite and oth?er sig?nif?i?cant lead?er?ship posi?tions, we need more women to launch well. The good news: there are many ways to accu?mu?late the need?ed cor?ner?stone knowl?edge in the ear?ly years. The tougher news is that some of the most reli?able path?ways will require young women to engage in dis?com?fort as they embrace paths they may not ful?ly know, under?stand, or appre?ci?ate, at least initially.

But as our inter?views make clear, invest?ing the time and effort to lever?age these career accel?er?a?tors will pay div?i?dends down the road for any woman, regard?less of her long-term career aspi?ra?tions. A?bet?ter launch means bet?ter tools to use lat?er in one?s career???in any sec?tor and at any oper?at?ing?scale.

Sally Blount is?Dean, Kellogg School of Management; Michael L. Nemmers Professor of Management & Organizations.

This article has previously been published on Kellogg Insight.