We recently published the article CEO Statistics in which we discussed common characteristics of CEOs based on a poll of “emerging culture” (just North of startup) CEOs.  The key findings from this poll were that most CEOs are republicans and highly educated.  But what are some other common characteristics that someone who has the ambition of one day becoming a CEO should know about?

Well, a recent article from US News and World Report states that executives that reach the top echelon of management have to distinguish themselves through intelligence, strong communication skills, organizational acumen, or some powerful combination of savvy and foresight.

But in addition to the soft skills above and the 22 vital traits that we described in the article Corporate Career Success – How to Become CEO, this US News and World Report article points out that a study conducted by Healthy Companies International uncovered one common experience that could greatly increase your chances of becoming a CEO:

Three quarters of Fortune 100 CEOs today have spent at least two years working in a senior position overseas.

Give the ever increasing impact of globalization, this should not come as a surprise to you.  But what is remarkable is the rate in which this key experience has increasingly become common place in the resumes of senior executives.  In the last 10 years, the percentage of Fortune 100 C-level executives with significant overseas experience has increased from 48 percent to 71 percent.  This is a great contrast to where we were just 20 years ago, when taking an overseas assignment could actually jeopardize your C-level career track because of the potential “out-of-sight-out-of-mind” risk.

Today companies are aggressively pursuing executives with overseas experience.  Even business schools are catching on to the trend and some are offering opportunities to their MBA students to get international experience through partnerships with schools and businesses overseas.

Having an in depth understanding of cultural differences and how to do business in other countries is becoming a crucial skill for many corporate jobs, but especially for executives, including the CEO.  So if you have the ambition of someday being a C-level executive, you should not only embrace any opportunity that comes your way to take an overseas assignment, but you should actually seek such opportunities.

Besides the clear career benefits, getting a work assignment overseas will greatly enrich you as a person as well – and it can be a lot of fun.