‘Built to be CEO’ by Sabrina Ghouse: must-read book for aspiring women
Sri Lankan-born Sabrina Ghouse in her newly released, thought-provoking book ‘ Built to be CEO, A Woman’s Journey to the Top’ gives a powerful message to women who are undecided as to what they want to be when it comes to their careers. And she convincingly says: ‘ You are built to be CEO.’
The 221-page book consist insightful research with many aspects on how to succeed in today’s challenging and evolving environment, ideal for young executives and senior managers looking for great insights on early career development, management thinking and strategy. With many women increasingly taking up the role of CEO even in many global corporations in the recent years, the gender fact will no longer be noteworthy and relevant, a media release from the publisher said.
However this book is not just for women, it offers a concrete guidance and path to anyone who is aspiring to become effective leaders. The essence of the book is all about how to get to the top, how to lead, and how to inspire others. It stresses on the fact that future CEOs go beyond their comfort zones to continuously achieve their progressive goals, by always reminding themselves that they haven’t come this far, just to come this far. ‘ Can I do better?’, ‘Am I built for more?’
Ms. Ghouse lists 10 building blocks divided into distinctive chapters, drawing from her own experiences as well as others. It gives inspiration and motivation in identifying and overcoming challenges at each stage of one’s career, outlining typical mistakes to avoid regarding the time factor during early stages and goes onto provide an in- depth analysis of progress with prevailing gender gaps in the industry.
The book begins with self-exploration with the basic question being ‘ Do you want to be CEO’. It then touches upon why time is one’s most valuable player and being aware or understanding as to what he or she is getting into, and the types, traits, support structures, environments, and the way forward. It also features stories from role models and mentors including four- time Olympic Champion Je n n i f f e r, UFC Champion Alexis Davis and Emmywinning reporter Patti Lee to name a few.
Sharing one of her lessons from a close CEO, she says ‘if you are aiming to be CEO the present value of your time is greater than the same amount of time in the future. It is now more important that the time you have in your early career is spent well because at some point you stop being the youngest and reflect whether you could’ve done better, surely regrets are very expensive.’
Ms. Ghouse graduated from Harvard University and currently serves as the Chief of Staff to the CEO of AAA in the US, having served in a similar capacity to numerous CEOs in diverse industries. She is also the founder of two non-profit organisations involved in education.