When you get a pit in your stomach, it means you have the courage to step out of your comfort zone. Get used to this feeling, as it's where you need to be to grow professionally and advance your career.

What happens to your career path when you check your ego at the door, take risks and resolve to discover and grow in new areas of knowledge and skill? LinkedIn economist Guy Berger, PhD examined the career paths of more than 450,000 LinkedIn members globally and uncovered some meaningful insights. He tracked professionals that had worked at the largest well-known consulting firms between 1990 and 2010 and then moved to industry. About 64,000 became a vice president or C-suite officer at a company with at least 200 employees. Dr. Berger correlated their varying traits, such as career transitions, work experiences, gender and educational background, with their advancement to senior levels. The study captured the following key data points worth exploring:

• Broad and multidisciplinary career experience significantly increased the chances of achieving a senior leadership position in the fastest amount of time;
• An MBA from a top five U.S. program was the factor most correlated with a person's likelihood of becoming a senior executive;
• Men had a slight advantage over women; and
• Chances were higher for becoming a senior executive if you worked in New York, followed by Los Angeles, whereas chances were diminished in Houston and Washington.

However, correlation was not causation and there are certainly exceptions to these statistically relevant data points. Graduation from an elite program is feasible for only few people, and location involves other personal factors beyond career. But dedication to continuous learning is feasible for all.

Those who became senior leaders in Dr. Berger's study had a wide-ranging view of the business world with interdisciplinary and multifunctional experience. Here are some additional key points from the study that provide guidance on increasing your potential for career progression:

• Experience across as many of a business' functional areas as possible;
• Perspective and organizational knowledge of management systems, supply chain, marketing strategy, information technology, finance, regulatory environment, human resources and how others do their jobs;
• Broad industry knowledge;
• Staying within your industry as networks and knowledge are hard to rebuild quickly; and
• Deep personal networks.

Many companies have long rotated employees through various job functions to develop their talent. However, effective leaders can make sure they learn through other people both within their organization and outside of it. For example, the technology specialist that regularly interfaces with the sales department to gain perspective on the organization's customers is better positioned to understand to meet both the needs of their customers and the demands of the modern complex market environment that the company faces.