If you are thinking about applying for an advanced managerial position, it’s likely that you already have a pretty good idea regarding what it takes. However, if you are planning for the future, or in case you are not entirely sure whether you meet all the requirements to apply for your first managerial position, go through the following points to clearup any doubts.
Experience
You cannot be expected to lead a team, multiple teams, a department, or an entire segment without significant and pertinent knowledge of the specific field. That does not necessarily mean you need to have experience as a manager to be a manager, although that can certainly help.
When you are about to step on the first rung of that management ladder, valid experience in the concerned field as an experienced employee will do just fine. The exact title and position will differ a lot, depending on the corporate structure of that company, but experienced employees generally start stepping up the ladder by assuming the role of a team leader, a supervisor, or a departmental manager.
Education
If you wish to get promoted faster and go through the low-level managerial positions as quickly as possible, you must have the necessary professional education and training. In other words, you must have a graduation degree in business management and administration to apply for the mid – high level managerial positions.
Reinforce your resume with anMBA or an MSM degree andqualify as a professional with all the necessary managerial skills, training and knowledge expected from a business leader. However, you should be careful in choosing your management program because the right course for one professional will not always be the right one for another. Check this pragmatic MSM vs MBA assessment and comparison to know which one would be the right choice for you.
Innate Leadership Skills
The relevant experience, education, and training are the most important qualifications that every aspiring manger must meet. Therefore, let’s make it clear that innate leadership skills are not necessary to rise up the corporate ladder, since most of them can be acquired.Having said that, it’s also true that people with natural leadership instincts and skills tend to perform better and rise faster through the corporate ranks.
This is a result of innate leadership or organizational skills having been honed and augmented through training and experience. Most of the following are considered innate skills possessed by some of the most successful business leaders in the world:
- Critical thinking, logical reasoning, and problem-solving skills.
- Patience, decisiveness, and adaptability.
- Teammanagement, time management, goal setting, and other administrative skills.
- Emotional intelligence, team building, and accurate delegation skills.
- Power to inspire, motivate, and empower others.
- Relationship management, collaboration, persuasion, and negotiation skills.
- Articulate communication, public speaking, active listening, and interpretation skills.
As mentioned, most of the leadership and management skills necessary to become a successful business manager can be acquired through experience, education, training, and perseverance. However, if you already have an innateproclivity towards some of them, you might just be a natural born leader.
