How To Become A C-Suite Executive with AJ Jones II

Success Fundamentals

In this episode of the Success Fundamentals podcast, Kris and Brian talk to Senior Vice-President and Head of Global Communications and Public Affairs for Starbucks, Aranthan “AJ” Jones II. AJ shares good advice for people wanting to climb the corporate ladder and achieve success by working with some of the biggest companies in the world.

Besides all the technical requirements that every would-be c-suite executive needs to have, AJ also reveals that it’s about how you communicate your value and your relationship with time. Whether or not being at the helm of one of the world’s biggest companies is your idea of success, AJ’s advice is bound to help you achieve your goals, one way or another.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Starbucks brand is beyond coffee
• Follow the impact you want to make, not the fancy job title
• The elevator route vs the scaffolding route
• You won't get a c-suite position via job searches
• The relative nature of time can be for or against you
• Social media has eroded long-term thinking

QUOTES

AJ: "I start by saying, ask yourself the question, not what job you wanna have, but what impact you want to make. Because it's a lot easier to align your ambitions, your skill sets, your knowledge, and quite frankly your energies around the impact you believe you can make versus what job you can have."

AJ: “The best communication you can have about your ambitions is somebody else communicating about your ambitions.”

AJ: "Most positions you will get at this executive level won't be through applying to Indeed.com. It won't be there. It'll be through a search process or it'll be through a connection or a related relationship to that particular opportunity. Those are not gonna come directly to you, they are often gonna come by way of someone else to you."

AJ: "If I go from farmer to retail, retail to entertainment, entertainment to oil and gas, I am searching you my ability to take the same skill set, repackage it and repurpose and restructure it to be able to deliver on behalf of any industry. That is way more valuable than being able to say, you know what, I've been in this industry for 35 years."

Follow AJ and through the links below:

• Email: [e-mail]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajjonesii/

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