CHROs: how to build real business acumen fast (without a P&L role or an MBA)

If you’re a CHRO, the job has changed.

It’s not an HR role anymore.
It’s a business role with HR expertise.

And if you’ve ever felt like you didn’t get the classic “business leader training”… you’re not alone.

No P&L rotation.
No MBA.
No early career runway to run a region or own a product line.

So what do you do if you’re already in the seat and you want executive credibility now?

That’s what this post is about.

Because yes, there are CHROs (and CIOs) who earned credibility by spending years inside the business.

But there are also faster paths.

Let’s break it down.

The traditional advice: “go get P&L experience”
For years, the advice to CHROs has sounded like this:

“Go get P&L experience.”
“Rotate through the business.”
“Run a region.”
“Own a product line.”

And yes… that advice works.

Some of the most respected CHROs and CIOs built credibility by doing exactly that. They ran operations, stepped into business units, or took on roles far outside their function.

One former Starbucks CIO famously spent time working in stores, not in meetings. He wore the apron, served customers, worked the register, and saw the business from the ground up.

A former Honeywell CHRO didn’t just “partner with the business.” He literally led functions like procurement and flight operations alongside HR.

Another CHRO shared that her time running a business unit before stepping fully into the people role made her instantly more credible because she understood margins, profit, and daily operational decisions firsthand.

These moves change how you think.
They change how others see you.
And they work.

But here’s the problem…

Most CHROs don’t have time for that. Or the runway.

If you’re later in your career, you didn’t come up through finance, and you didn’t have early rotational experiences… it can feel like the “business leader” ship has already sailed.

I hear this constantly.

One CHRO said it like this (paraphrased):

“I’m 11 months into the job. I cleaned up the basics, rolled out some strong initiatives, and the team is moving. But I can feel it: the HR phase is over. If I want real influence, I have to get out of the HR bubble and start thinking like an operator. Because outcomes matter more than HR activity.”

That is the moment.

That uncomfortable moment where you realize:

Being a strong HR leader isn’t enough anymore.

The CHRO role has become a business role with HR expertise. Not the other way around.

The part nobody says out loud
Some of your business leaders might not even expect you to operate at this level.

They might be perfectly happy if HR keeps the trains running.

But you know better.

Because if you don’t build real business acumen, two things happen:

• the business leaves value on the table
• you slowly go brain-dead in the role

The CHRO seat is too close to the action to stay in “support function mode.”

Why I included CIOs in this research
I included CIOs because they’ve lived this challenge for years.

They know what it feels like to be seen as a technical expert, not a business leader.

The strongest CIOs didn’t earn credibility by talking about systems. They earned credibility by tying technology to revenue growth, margin pressure, execution speed, and customer outcomes.

CHROs can learn a lot from that.

Now the good news: you don’t need an MBA or P&L role
You do not need an MBA.
You do not need a full P&L job.
You do not need a 5-year detour.

There are faster paths.

TL;DR: You don’t need a P&L role to become a business-first CHRO.
You need proximity to revenue, customers, and the operating rhythm of the business.

Don’t try to do all eight. Pick one and run it for 30 days.

The 8 fastest ways to become a business leader without a P&L role or an MBA

1. Build “market IQ” in 30 minutes a week
   Most HR leaders are internally fluent, but externally behind.

Do this weekly:

• Listen to your company’s earnings call replay (or read the transcript)
• Listen to one competitor’s earnings call
• Write down answers to:
• What are the 3 growth levers?
• What’s breaking in execution?
• Where is cost pressure showing up?
• What risks are leaders trying to manage?
• What are the next two-quarter bets?

Then walk into your CEO or CFO 1:1 and say:

“Here’s what the market is rewarding right now, and here’s the capability bottleneck that could slow us down.”

Why this works: you start speaking in external business language, not internal HR language.

1. Run a revenue friction audit
   If you want instant credibility, go where revenue gets stuck.

Pick one friction point:

• Lead to qualified pipeline
• Qualified pipeline to close
• Contract to onboarding complete
• Implementation delays
• Renewal churn
• Customer escalations

In 10 business days:

• Map the process on one page (steps + handoffs)
• Identify the top 3 delays or rework loops
• Estimate business impact (speed, conversion, churn, cost-to-serve)
• Propose a 90-day friction removal plan

If you’re wondering where to focus first, follow Eric Schmidt’s old line from his Google days:

“Revenue solves all.”

Why this works: removing friction in the revenue engine is the fastest path to executive credibility.

1. Join customer calls with a mission
   Customer calls are a cheat code.

Not “sit quietly and listen.” Go in with a sharp lens.

Join five calls across:

• A win
• A loss
• A renewal
• A customer escalation
• A new implementation kickoff

Pick ONE lens for the month:

• Why we win
• Why we lose
• Why customers churn
• What makes onboarding painful
• Where competitors beat us

Ask:

• “What almost made you not buy?”
• “What are you measuring us on?”
• “What would make you switch?”
• “If you were CEO of our company, what would you fix first?”

Translate what you learn into:

• capability gaps (skills, roles, behaviors)
• execution gaps (handoffs, decision latency, confusion)

Why this works: customers teach you the business faster than internal meetings ever will.

1. Become the CEO’s execution pressure tester
   Strategy is easy. Execution is the game.

Take the top 3 strategic priorities and ask:

• What capabilities are missing?
• What teams are overloaded?
• Where will decisions get stuck?
• What incentives are misaligned?
• What dependencies will slow this down?

Bring it back as:

“This strategy is right. But here’s where execution will break, and here’s what we can do in 60 days to fix it.”

Why this works: you become the person protecting business outcomes, not just “advising.”

1. Co-run the operating rhythm that actually runs the company
   Want to learn how the business really runs?

Don’t attend more meetings. Run one that matters.

Pick one:

• pipeline and forecast review
• margin and cost review
• customer escalation review
• operations planning cadence
• weekly exec priorities

Ask to co-run it for 6-8 weeks.

Your goal is not participation. Your goal is to improve decision quality.

Look for:

• missing metrics
• sloppy accountability
• repeating blockers
• decisions that get delayed or dodged

Why this works: operating rhythm is where the real business decisions get made.

1. Take temporary P&L coverage for 30-60 days
   This is real. And it’s underused.

You don’t need to own a business forever. You need a short window of real ownership.

Look for openings like:

• a GM leaves unexpectedly
• a regional leader goes on leave
• a product leader role sits empty
• an integration lead is needed after acquisition

Pitch it like this:

“Give me 60 days as interim owner with two conditions:

1. decision rights on the top priorities
2. an FP&A partner assigned to me”

One important prerequisite: you need a strong #2 in HR who can take the day-to-day reins while you step into the business.

This is the real test of whether you’ve built an HR function that can run without you.

Why this works: even one cycle of business tradeoffs changes your operating mindset permanently.

1. Build a 10-metric business dashboard for yourself
   If you want to be taken seriously, track what business leaders track.

Your dashboard should include:

• revenue vs plan
• gross margin
• pipeline coverage
• win rate
• renewal rate / churn
• cost to serve
• cycle times (sales, onboarding, delivery)
• customer satisfaction (or a customer outcome metric)
• productivity metric (varies by industry)
• workforce investment view (not just headcount)

Then connect HR to the scoreboard:

“Here are the two business metrics our current talent system is dragging down, and what we’re doing about it.”

Why this works: you’re tying talent priorities to measurable business outcomes.

1. Do competitor capability intelligence (not benchmarking)
   Benchmarking is passive. Capability intelligence is strategic.

Track:

• roles competitors are hiring aggressively
• functions they are building (RevOps, AI, customer success)
• where they are investing geographically
• where they are cutting or reorganizing
• the capabilities their CEO repeats in public messaging

This one is easier than most CHROs think because your talent acquisition team already has the intel.

One of the smartest examples I’ve seen: the head of TA at Miller Brewing built a literal “war room” tracking competitor talent, including who the brand managers were across rival companies.

It wasn’t gossip. It was external succession planning in real time.

Why this works: competitor signals tell you where the market is going before your internal plans catch up.

The fastest next step (do this in 30 days)
Pick one of these:

• Earnings call + competitor call + a 1-page “what matters now” brief
• Revenue friction audit (one bottleneck)
• Five customer calls with a mission
• Co-run one operating rhythm meeting for 6 weeks

Do one. Not all eight.

Then watch what happens.

Because once you start speaking in growth levers, friction points, customer reality, and execution risk…

You stop being viewed as “the HR person.”
You start being viewed as someone who runs the business.

Which lever would move revenue or execution speed fastest in your business right now?

If you want an outside brain to help you choose your highest-leverage 2-3 moves…

If you’re in the small minority of CHROs who want to be measured by business results, not HR activity, I’m opening up a few 1-hour strategy sessions.

We’ll pinpoint the 2-3 business levers that will give you (and your team) the fastest credibility lift.

These sessions are usually reserved for my CHRO Mastermind members and are only for sitting CHROs at companies with 500+ employees.

DM me “business” if you’d like one.

Cindy Lu,

[email protected]

Founder of CHRO Mastermind Groups 

https://www.chropartners.com/

O: 972-265-9630 C: 262-617-1353

6505 West Park Blvd. Suite 306

Plano, TX 75093