The thing to remember when you are thinking about the path to executive is that in many cases, you need to start from product management. Product management is something that offers many different perspectives to the person in charge, and this is where you can learn many of the things that will make you a valuable and important CEO. Apart from the customer needs, you will learn a lot about how companies do things and how your company does things in particular. You will see the entire action arc of your company, from beginning to end and you will realize how important everything is. From manufacturing to packaging to sales to distribution, you will have a bird's eye view of everything.
You will also learn that there are many different ways that your company sees things. There is a reason that sales does not see thing the same way that manufacturing or IT sees it, but if you are a good product manager, you will be able to see what is going on and why there is an argument. Take some time and really think about what your options are going to be when it comes to not only seeing these issues but solving them. This can be an immensely important way to move ahead and if you can really turn mediation into one of your primary skills, you will soon see a lot more progress than you would otherwise.
Another thing that product management will help you do is to learn to prioritize and to learn to deal with stress. Before you come into this position, you might think that you already know how to deal with stress, but the truth of the matter is that in many cases, we know how to deal with personal stress, not with stress that comes from other people. Take a moment to consider what your options might be when you want to deal with making decisions between departments and between two equally valid options!
If you are ready to think about launching yourself into an executive-like career or when you are curious to see if the executive life is right for you, you will discover that taking a look at product management is key. For so many people before you, this area has acted as a CEO training camp, and when you go in, you can be sure that you are going to be a different person coming out.