If you're smart and have an explosive resume that headhunters drool over, you can even make a pile of money in the bargain. But that doesn't mean you're capable of commanding a company's top job.
Techies mistakenly think technical prowess alone is enough.
Meyers, former chairman of American Motors Corp., knows firsthand. A mechanical engineer by training, he is a no-nonsense former top executive who doesn't mince words. Meyers has witnessed some startling victories and some horrendous goofs. The best way to learn, he says, is by example. To climb the corporate ladder, study the powerhouse managers and CEOs who put Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Lucent, Sun Microsystems and Cisco on the map, he said.