How they made it to the top [Management Review]

If you've ever wondered what makes the most successful managers so special, then help is at hand. E&T reads a new book on the ups and downs of life at the top of the corporate ladder. You're determined to make it as CEO. You've modelled and managed your career step by step to be an effective leader, delegator, negotiator, risk taker and business builder. You've got the necessary 'get up and go' and you're ready to seize the next great opportunity. You're ready for the final hurdle. But do you really have any idea what's involved running a major company? Did Tony Hayward have a full grasp of the awesome challenges ahead when he was hoisted into the top job at BP? How could the chairman, a former CEO of a global company and only appointed in January, have any idea? How did more than 200 of the world's top bosses interviewed by the authors make it as corporate leaders?