Dear Liz,
I have an internal debate going on in my head and you are just the person to help me sort it out.
I've been working for seven years, the first two as a National Accounts Rep and the past five years as a Senior Service Analyst. As an Analyst I work with a small number of accounts and I split my time between handling my accounts' billing and delivery issues and planning shipments, configuration and other customer-specific projects with my internal teammates.
I really like my job, but I'd like to move up to a leadership position at some point. I'm just not sure when that point will be.
There are team leaders and supervisors in my office who are younger than me and of course a lot of them are also older. I haven't seen anything come up in terms of management jobs that feels like just the right fit for me, but when that job opening does come along I want to be ready.
It would not be a job in this department, where we only have one manager (my boss) but probably in a department like National Accounts or Sales Administration.
So far I've been the project lead on two decent-sized projects and I try to be a mentor to new employees. How will I know when I'm ready for a management job? Thanks for your guidance, Liz!
Yours,
Patience
Dear Patience,
You ask a great question. How would anyone know when they're ready to step up to a management role? Some of that knowledge is in your brain, and some of it is in your gut. When you feel that your desire to mentor and coach people is stronger than your desire to learn and do more strictly functional things, that's your sign from Mother Nature!
Here are five signs you're ready to go after a management role -- and five signs you're not quite ready yet!
Five Signs You're Ready For A Management Role
1. You like to share your knowledge, and people come to you for advice when they have questions about their jobs.
2. You take a lot of satisfaction in seeing people learning and succeeding.
3. You have altitude on your company -- you see the way the departments fit together and you see ways for some of your processes to happen more effectively.
4. You get excited when you see people getting excited about their work.
5. You are comfortable being a liaison between employees and upper management, and you look forward to making that liaison role a bigger part of your job.
Five Signs You're Not Ready For A Management Role
1. It bothers you when you see people coming in late, chit-chatting or otherwise goofing off and you want a supervisor title so you can make them stop doing those things.
2. It bothers you to see people performing their jobs differently from the way you do it. You feel that there's one correct way to perform any task. You want to tell your teammates how to do their jobs differently, and you need a supervisor title to set them straight.
3. You want the power that a supervisor or team leader title would give you.
4. You want to be a manager because managerial jobs pay more than non-managerial jobs do.
5. You like making rules and enforcing them.
Leadership jobs have much more to do with maturity and confidence than they do with familiarity or command of the procedures in your department. That's why a person like you can take on a supervisory role in a department you haven't spent any time in and do a great job in it.
You will find that being a great manager has more to do with listening than with talking. I predict that you'll excel in your first leadership job, and all the leadership jobs you hold after that!
All the best to you,
Liz
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