If you want to get ahead, get an expert

Doctors should run hospitals, lawyers should run law firms, and engineers should run manufacturing businesses: organisations do best when their chief executives are experts in their fields, according to new research. Management capability is important, but it is not, by itself, enough. It is having a relevant professional background, not simply sector experience, that makes an exceptional chief executive, said Amanda Goodall, a senior lecturer in management at Cass Business School in London. This suggests that leadership skills are less generic, and less transferable between organisations, than many people think, she said.