It's been 13 hours now and there are only a few upvotes and no comments... so perhaps you (and the mods, if they're around) wouldn't mind an amateur response?

Mao's rise to power was a slow ascent, depending where you place the turning point in his career.

The first moves he made in building his resume were as a young man attending various schools while working for revolutionary papers, attending and forming revolutionary organizations, and generally building experience and rapport within those circles, as many future CCP leaders were at the time.

The second were during the beginning stages of the war with Japan, when he took various assignments around China writing propaganda and overseeing labor and student societies, which again allowed him to acquire experience and contacts. But there were several giants ahead of him.

The third instance, I believe, is where he was clearly grooming himself for command. He was given control of local student/labor chapters in southeast China and, when the Guomindang (GMD/KMT/China Nationalist Party)'s disagreements came to a head with the CPC (Communist Party of China), Mao was given a small force of volunteer soldiers, which he built up over time as he traveled the countryside to spread the word of the communist movement, the corruptions of the nationalists, and the evil of the imperialists such as the invading Japanese.

The fourth occurrence of his rise to power came during the Long March, when a force of around 100,000 soldiers and CPC members escaped from the GMD west, and then north, over 6000 miles (9000km). During this journey Mao was chosen as the chairman of the Politburo, which formed the primary leadership of the CPC. His completion of nominal leader of the CPC during the Long March solidified his position of power and would frequently be referenced throughout his career, as it was for all members of the March - moving him from a communist leader to hero status.

From here he led the efforts to spread the communist cause across China while simultaneously fighting the northern Japanese and central GMD forces in guerrilla warfare. After the end of World War II, Mao was able to focus on building revolutionary support and combating the GMD who were severely weakened by the Japanese. In the end, of course, he was able to defeat them (with the GMD fleeing to Taiwan, remaining there ever since).

Finally, he participated in an unending sequence of political maneuvering as he sought to retain control of the people's support, over the CPC, and the PLA (People's Liberation Army), requiring strong allies, decisive decisions, and quite a few number of political oustings and even deaths.

There is a ton of history on Mao's rise to power. It's actually quite incredible the life he led. I read a book about it last year, and I highly suggest it (if I can find the name for you) or any other similar book. The problem you run into, however, is the mythology behind Mao, plus the controversy. There are a lot of holes in the exact events that took place during that time, and what you can find (especially if written by pro-communist authors) may not be entirely true.

Mao was a shrewd man all around, being all a writer, propagandist, poet, general, philosopher, politician, and leader. From what I can remember, over time he ruled with a harder and harder iron fist, not wanting his delicate new China to fracture, and not wanting to give up the immense power he had acquired.