I just read an article that discusses the issue of wanting to transition into a management role, but needing management experience in order to qualify. How do you gain experience if you need experience to get the position. This is a tricky situation that many people face as they try to climb the corporate ladder.
The article suggests some ideas for making yourself more visible at your firm and forming the opinions of your superiors so that they see you as someone with management potential. The author states that your focus should be doing your current job very well. Nobody will consider you for a management position if you cannot perform your current job well. Presumably this is because a management role will have much more responsibilities than your current role as you will now also be responsible for other people.
He then lists 4 steps you should take:
1) Do your homework. He suggests observing managers at your firm and what they do. Another great suggestion that he made was to read books on leadership. These books can give you a great insight into skills that you may need to develop. One book that he suggested that I plan to read is ‘The One Minute Manager’ by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.
2) Develop people skills. This may seem as a given, but people skills are truly important to be an effective manager. You need to be able to relate, speak to and influence people. You also need to realize that the same techniques may not work for different people. I think that one good way to enhance your people skills is through group work that you may do at work and school. Pay particular attention to how you handle group dynamics. Pay attention to how you handle situations of disagreement and conflict. These are opportunities for you to learn and grow.
3) Show initiative. Volunteer to do things that may not be specifically required of you. Showing that you are willing to go above and beyond what is required of you puts you in a favorable light with your superiors. Volunteer for planning committees. Again, this shows that you are willing to go above and beyond, but it is also a great opportunity to showcase your planning and people skills. Both of which are very important skills for a manager to possess.
4) Ask. The author suggests asking for a management position if this is what you want. This is something that I find particularly difficult as you do not want to come across as aggressive, especially for a female. However, my career has taught me that you cannot wait for anything to be handed to you. There will be other people willing to stand up and ask for what they want and they will be seen and heard more than the person who quietly sits back, working away. Voicing what I want is out of my comfort zone, but I have some to realize that it is necessary to achieve what you want.
I believe that these simple suggestions could produce a meaningful difference in your career. As someone who wants to move into a management position, these are steps that I can easily implement in my every day work life.
http://management.about.com/cs/begintomanage/a/FirstMgtJob.htm
Kim
This is conceptually very interesting and I agree with each and every point brought up in your post. I consider my time at Goizueta a tremendous laboratory for developing my people skills, particularly dealing with the dynamics of a team. Each semester we have been presented with an opportunity to deal with new quirks within our teams and how we have been able to respond to these nuances is very telling. Much of what I have been able to experiment with at Goizueta has be translatable to my current work and is hopefully positioning me well for the future.
It is interesting that you indicate that you have some trepidation about asking for a management role. I can see how this may portray you as an overly aggressive female, but I have always found initiative, regardless of sex, to be one of the key assets I look for in managers. In our short time working together I have found you to be remarkably intelligent and capable, so I am confident that your peers see you the same way and you should have no fear about assertively pursuing a management role. Good luck!
Kim – Great summery of an interesting article. To echo a bit of what Barry mention, I find point number four to be particularly interesting. When I was attempting to make a move into management, I, weather knowingly or subconsciously, followed these same principals. However, reflecting on my own experience, I can say that the single most important action I took towards making the jump was to make my intentions known publicly. I asked for the sale.
I view career advancement as a series of sales calls. An employee’s sales pitch is a series of feature to benefit statements that are shown daily through the quality of the work that the employee produces. This can be equated to points two and three above. The employee must prove that they (the product) are worth an investment from the buyer (their employer). However, as most sales folks know, it is difficult to close a deal unless you ask for the sale at just the right time.
I am sure you are a stellar employee, and you are very bright (I know this from having been in many classes with you). My key take away from your post, and from my experience is to ask for the sale. Tell managers, mentors and anyone who may be able to help what your intentions are. Please don’t be deterred by the fear of threatening them, as you would not want to work for someone who is so easily scared.
Good luck!
Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate the advice.
Barry, I think you hit the nail on the head. Often women do fear being viewed as overly aggressive. But to Steven’s point, it is necessary for advancement. Steven, thank you for sharing your own experience with me and I really like your analogy to a sales call. It makes perfect sense. When looking at it that way, you are very right, having the skills is not enough, I need to “ask for the sale”.
Thank you both for the encouragement.