In today’s competitive business world if you’re not judged to be management material, you may never get a shot at the C-level positions. All successful leaders had to learn how to be a great manager as part of their career path. Old school phrasing referred to this as “earning your stripes” … today it’s more about developing attributes or skillsets.
Unfortunately, sometimes if you are not judged as management material at some point along your career path, you may never get a shot at the C-suite. You have to glean those skills through either education, on-the-job-training, a good mentor, self-teach yourself, or a combination of these. But in the long run the earlier in your career that you learn some of the attributes and skills you need to succeed the better. Plus if you plan to be an entrepreneur these are a must. It can also be sobering to learn that a lot of people who might have turned out well never get the chance to find out or show their stuff. It may be just bad luck, poor mentoring, a Catch-22, etc. But it happens, therefore, you need to develop a personal plan to help yourself grow and succeed.
Here’s a list of what I feel is some of the skills and attributes that executives and business leaders look for today in their management candidates. Take a look and see which ones you are strong in and what areas you might want to work on to be sure you are good management material … and you are giving yourself a chance.
Looking at the Big Picture – organizations want someone who understands the overall view of business, what makes markets work, how companies operate, how business gets done – who “gets it” – someone who makes management and recruiters think, “that guy’s got potential.” On the other hand, if all you know or are interested in is what’s happening in your own department, then most likely you are not going to be considered leadership material.
Desire to achieve – if you show a desire to accomplish things … to make things happen so you can look back and say, “I did that or I was part of that” … then managers and recruiters will see that desire to achieve. Leaders look for that sort of thing in trainees and up-and-comers along with ability, dedication, and discipline.
Confidence – few of us possess strong self-confidence when we’re young for the simple reason that we haven’t had enough experience through successes and failures to develop the confidence needed. But often if you have the courage to show self-confidence that is often enough to get folks to believe in you and give you a shot.
Field of Expertise – whatever your area of interest or competence is most likely the area leaders or recruiters are going to envision you being successful. Sales producers are looked to run sales, bright finance minds become controllers, CFOs, etc. So be aware of what fields interest you, but always be willing to expand you knowledgebase … remember to be Big Picture conscious to become a leader.
Be able to prioritization and adjust – the real world isn’t like the theory taught in school. Nothing is ever black and white or cut and dried. That’s why so much of management competency is your ability to effectively prioritize and make adjustments. Understand zero-based budgeting. Be able (and willing) to determine what’s critical and what needs to sidestepped. Most every management interview will have questions along those lines.
Be able to motivate – some folks just have an ability to get people working together to accomplish a goal. They can explain things in ways that people understand, that resonates with them, that gets them excited. I always liked to get people involved, engaged, and in attendance so I could build a team. They have executive presence. This can be a learned skill so don’t always believe that all leaders are born … they actually develop along the way. But they work at it and look for good examples to follow.
Be willing to be a decision-maker – when you ask 10 people what decision-making is all about, you’ll usually get 10 different answers. And what you mostly get are unclear ideas about indecisiveness and leadership. Leadership isn’t just about being decisive … it’s about learning to make the right decisions. That comes down to probing, listening, reasoning, and knowing when to trust your gut or others you’ve learned to understand. Making right decisions well is one of the most important aspects of management and leadership.
Be adaptable – in today’s fast-paced world managers have to be flexible, capable of adapting on the fly to changing conditions. So you need to learn to adapt to the hurdles that competitive markets throw at you. You will be working with many different people and personalities in your career and it is important to be able to adapt to their personalities, mores, styles, tactics, etc. That’s what leaders do well.
Self-starter – many became a supervisor early in their career, then a manager as they move up, then a senior executive, etc. How does this happen? Sometimes it’s pure luck or timing, but more often than not, it’s due to initiative. My experience is that most senior executives and leaders love to see and hear success stories of their people showing initiative during their career development. It’s part of the foundation.
Leadership from the top – micromanaging is not popular these days. Whatever you call it, you want to get things done that are best for the organization. The simple formula for this is setting the right goals, determining how best to achieve them, and getting everyone executing as if their lives depend on it. I call that visionary leadership from the top down and back up with understanding and commitment. When you’re young, we want to see you making good things happen. There will be some rough areas but you will have time to smooth out your rough edges later.
What are your ideas for young up and coming leaders?
© Phil Hoffman 2013. All rights reserved
I Am Phil Hoffman 