06-24-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

How the modern CMO role prepares leaders for the CEO seat

A wider share of responsibilities puts the CMO in prime position.

[Photo: Getty Images]

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BY Simone Grapini-Goodman

As I move from a CMO role into a CEO role, I’ve realized that the transition isn’t as unconventional as some expect. The modern CMO role has become one of the broadest leadership assignments in the C-suite. Yet the transition still surprises more conventional business thinkers because many still picture marketing as campaigns, messaging, and advertising, rather than enterprise strategy.

Spencer Stuart research shows that the most common path to the CEO seat is operations, followed by finance and sales. Modern leadership requires integration across all of them, plus fluency in trust, technology, culture, and storytelling.

There is one exception to that path. In consumer industries, Spencer Stuart noted that CMOs have a larger proportion of representation on the CEO path. Take Brian Niccol, current CEO of Starbucks. Niccol held major marketing leadership roles before stepping in as CEO at Chipotle before his Starbucks role, a great illustration of how a brand-obsessed and customer-focused remit transformed into organizational leadership.

For years, these transitions were viewed as exceptions largely confined to consumer brands. As leadership itself evolves, the profile of leaders stepping into the CEO seat changes as well.

After 20 years of marketing leadership across Fortune 10 healthcare, digital health, and national nonprofit organizations, I recently made that transition myself. I now lead Beyond Type 1, a global nonprofit dedicated to........

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