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Moving into Management

How do you move into management without prior management experience? #management #business

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Melissa’s Answer

Crossing over from an individual contributor into a Management role, is one of the hardest career changes because you are simply not privy to many Management-type situations when not in Management.
My best advice:
1. You need to excel at your current role. You cannot Manage and coach others to do a role that you are not successful in. Strive to be a leader within your own current role and team.
2. Get a Mentor that is a Manager right now that you admire. Get on a regular schedule to meet with them and learn from their experience (past and current). Ask to shadow their job, or learn how/why they make the decisions they make.
3. Be a team leader and mentor to your peers. This is the best way to show you can do the job, but helping others around you be successful at their job.
4. Take some training courses offered by your company, or some free courses online. Read some leadership books.
5. Be sure to communicate all of your efforts to the people who you hope to hire you as a Manager some day. Mentor with them and keep them updated with everything you are doing to prepare for Management.
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akshata’s Answer

Hi Andrew,

You need to have the below

Leadership Qualities

Managers must be good leaders, so in writing your resume, your cover letter and crafting your personal pitch, consider all the ways you already meet these criteria. Traits of a good leader include:

  • Patience
  • Excellent organizational skills.
  • The ability to inspire.
  • The ability to motivate.
  • Excellent time management.
  • Proven conflict resolution.
  • The ability to delegate.
  • Team-building spirit.
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Rajib’s Answer

IHMO, moving into management needs honest and thoughtful consideration of one's strengths and aspirations. The foundational skill needed for someone to pursue management/leadership career path is emotional intelligence which is a combination of self-awareness, empathy and social skills. A manager is responsible for leading a team and the success criteria in that role would be to help the team unlock their potential and let them be them best version of themselves. There are various ways to get to a management role and one of the paths that I have seen folks successfully tread was to find opportunities to develop the requisite skills in their current role. That way when a position opens up, one would be ready to assume that role with greater confidence. I would list some of the useful skills here that would be great for any aspiring leader to hone .

1. Organization skills
2. Self-awareness
3. Listening skills
4. Influencing skills
5. Collaboration skills
6. Communication skills
7. Decision-making skills
8. Situational adaptability

Finally, I would suggest that anyone who is looking to make that choice should be willing to put other's interests in front of their own and take holistic responsibility of the wellbeing and growth of their team members. Management is an excellent career track and with a growth mindset and bold aspirations, sky is only the limit as to what they can accomplish.
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Alvaro’s Answer

Hi Andrew,

Very glad to hear you're considering management as a next step for your career! Whilst doing a masters in management can certainly contribute to getting you to a management position, I'm going to provide you with a different path.

Before looking into what management positions might be available to you, I highly suggest understanding exactly why you're interested in management. To spark some thoughts, try to think about the skills needed in management, what sectors/industries would be interesting to you, what the day-to-day of a manager looks like... Many people tend to have a very broad idea of what management truly involves, therefore I highly suggest spending some time to focus on a specific type of management and industry.

Once you've spent some time understanding the different types of management and the departments that could be interesting to you (sales, marketing, IT, etc.), then you'll be able to start researching for companies that would be valuable to explore for career opportunities. Since you have no prior management experience, you'll be able to gain the skills required through internship opportunities or entry-level positions in these companies. Throughout the years you will rise up the ladder, meet and learn from managers that resonate with you (or not!), and start developing an expertise in your job that will sooner or later be worthy of a promotion to a manager position.

Time shouldn't be a concern for you; you will get to a management position if you dedicate yourself to it and are able to identify a suitable company that makes you happy and truly motivates you. If you put a good amount of time and effort to search for a company like this, you're already setting yourself up for success.

Therefore, don't rush into a decision, and instead break things down step by a step to reach your end goal of becoming a manager.

Hope this helps, and I wish you the best for these exciting years!

Alvaro recommends the following next steps:

Understand why management is an attractive path to you.
Focus on a type of management and area/industry that would be interesting to you. Ex.
Find 2-3 companies which you one day would like to be a manager in, and look for internship opportunities there.
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Donnie’s Answer

Hi,
Furthering your education and your skillset at work can benefit you in the long run when it comes to applying for management positions. Obtaining a degree in your specified field of study will help to better your understanding of the management role along with some of those concepts of budgets, people, and projects. Additionally, there is always opportunity to gain more knowledge at your current position. Even if you are not in your desired current role, you can find ways to connect to other leaders, ask for career stretching opportunities from your current supervisor, and learn as much as you can about each position at the business you are currently at. These types of experiences will help you gain a better understanding of the business world along with a better understanding of how to challenge yourself.
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Lana’s Answer

Hi Andrew,
Getting into management without management experience is a very difficult thing to do. Fortunately, getting management experience even though you're not in a management position is easier than you think.

I would start looking for opportunities in the existing position you are in and offer advice and/or help peers solve their problems, allowing you to exercising management skills - informally. As you pickup more and more experience with helping peers out, look to expand that scope. Look for other problems that maybe your manager is dealing with and offer/ express interest in helping them solve those as well.

This will give you experience in management skills, but also exposure to your manager that you are interested in expanding your scope of work. Once you start exercising those management skills and getting good at that, the natural progression will be into a management position :)

Hope that helps,
Lana
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Evelyn’s Answer

Hi Andrew,

Moving into management with no management experience can be quite difficult, fortunately, there are masters programs that you can take that specialize in management to help you get the experience without necessarily having been in that role before. For example, the London Business School offers a program called 'Masters in Management'.

Evelyn recommends the following next steps:

Research post-undergraduate studies that will certify you in management.
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Steven’s Answer

Regardless of the industry, there are few things you can do to improve your path to management. The first is ALWAYS to network. Connect with people throughout your organization - both above and below you on the organizational chart. Something as easy as scheduling a 15 minute "meet and greet" - "Hey, I just wanted to introduce myself and learn a little bit about what you do" - people are usually happy to talk about themselves! Describe your role as well if they are interested. Make sure you sincerely thank them for their time, offer that they can reach back out to you anytime, and if they do - FOLLOW THROUGH.
Also, it really helps to find someone, typically at the next level, willing to "take you under their wing" - not necessarily a mentor, but someone willing, for instance, to bring you along to meetings just to observe and learn, and willing to follow up with your questions.
Look for opportunities and make sure the right people know that you have an interest in management. Ask your manager exactly what steps you can take to ensure you are in the conversation next time a management job opens.
Know what your company values and be very good at it - is it strict performance by numbers? bringing in new business? being innovative? Find out and be the best at it. By the way, sometimes this can be sticky, if you get SO good at your job, some managers can be reluctant to move you out of that role - if that happens, move! You're not going anywhere there anyway!
Read books on what it takes to be a good leader - and notice I said leader, not manager - there is a big difference.
And lastly, from my experience, you go much farther, the more you sincerely care about others and create relationships, Be vulnerable and open. Help others shine and always be supportive of others in their own career journey.
Good luck!
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Gillian’s Answer

Hi Andrew,
Leading and Managing people can be a very rewarding career for the right person. I call out leading and management separately as they are two different skills and leading teams today requires both competencies. Also we've seen that managing people has changed significantly since the pandemic. Teams today are often diverse, distributed (remote), global and multi-generational in nature. There is a big focus now on leading with empathy and managing dispersed teams that have never met in person. There's a big focus on team culture and attracting/retaining good talent.
Ask yourself "Am I empathetic? Do I see potential in others and am I energized by nurturing it to help them be successful? Am I good at building relationships and do I invest time in getting them right? Do I trust people to get work done even when I cannot physically see them at work?" Are these some of your strengths?
I recommend taking 20 mins to do the StandOut Assessment at https://www.marcusbuckingham.com/gift-of-standout/ . It's free at the moment and will give you a detailed report on your strengths. If your strengths lie in Connector, Influencer, teacher or Stimulator, you have a great foundation for managing people.
I'd also recommend getting a mentor in this space. Someone who can advise you on real-life examples of leading teams and maybe even provide you with some work experience in that space.
Good luck with your career!
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Bob’s Answer

Management is a gift and skill - some people are born with natural leadership skills and others must systematically work on it - whatever your starting point (and you should know this, or others will let you know) - the move into management requires ongoing training and adjustment. Moving into management is not for everyone, but generally the longer your work in a career the more likely you will take on leadership and management responsibilities. To move into management without prior experience is not easy for most people and its important that you understand the scope of the role you are going to play and expectations from your team.

Firstly, it is important in your non-management role that you demonstrate leadership - that you regularly deliver more than expected - on schedule, under cost, with higher performance and that you do this with great behaviors. Secondly, you should let your managers know that you aspire to be a manager and seek there advise. Next, you should work with existing manager to ensure you align with the companies values and that you understand leadership expectations. Finally, you need to work with you manager to document an Individual Development Plan - this to lay out your career goals - near, mid and long term - and the skills you require to build to be able to compete - on the job training, mentoring and coaching and technical/management training. Having this plan and the support of your manager and others will allow you to compete
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Pooja’s Answer

Hi Andrew - Great questions. There is a lot of sound advice here already on your question. Here is what I would add. The single most critical skill to be successful in business in curiosity. The close second is Courage. Combination of these can tremendously help you get to whatever goals you set for yourself. If you want to pursue a management track, and assuming you are already in a job right now, I would encourage you to find a mentor who is in that kind of a role. As a mentee, you get the opportunity to walk a mile in your mentors shoes. Ask questions of those who have done it before. What did they like? What were the challenges? How did they go about pursuing a management track? Your curiosity will help you uncover things to expect and help you prepare for the management path. There are also loads of great books with advice on how to be a good leader / people manager (the one I like in particular is, The Coaching Habit, by Michael Bungay Stanier). Coupling that with the courage to seek out and go after the roles that give you the opportunity to be a manager will help you be successful.
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Shantel’s Answer

There are a few ways to move into management without prior management experience. One way is to get a degree in business or management. This will give you the theoretical knowledge you need to be a manager. Another way is to get a job in a company that offers management training. This will give you the practical experience you need to be a manager. Finally, you can volunteer to be a manager in a small organization. This will give you the opportunity to learn what it takes to be a manager.
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Elisabeth’s Answer

I would suggest taking on leadership roles on projects, volunteer events, etc. and show that you can lead and engage a team. Once you have leadership or management experiences under your belt that are unofficial apply to management positions and highlight skills and experiences where you have demonstrated management.
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Kelly’s Answer

- Demonstrate mastery of your role and domain as an individual contributor.
- Lead by example within your team and with your peers.
- Ask for special projects / stretch assignments where you can act as an informal (or even formal, if the project calls for it) leader. Showing that you can influence others and lead a team that doesn't report to you is a COVETED and LEARNED skill.

Good luck!
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Laura’s Answer

Great question!

Moving into management depends on the job itself. Some management jobs require you to be an expert in the area your direct reports work as you may be required to train them or handle escalations from customers due to how your direct reports completed their tasks.

Whether being an expert is requirement in your field, you do need to have the following passions and skills for any management job:

  • Leadership courage-doing the right thing at the right time
  • Ability to provide useful, timely feedback
  • Organization
  • Encouraging others to grow
  • Ability to hold people accountable
  • Effectively plan and schedule
  • Coach people to do better
  • Mediate between employees
  • Manage conflict
  • Share vision for the team and how their everyday work can make the vision possible
  • Be okay with the fact you can't be everyone's friend all the time
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Jennifer’s Answer

Depending on the industry, gain as much knowledge as possible within administrative roles within that area. Many new managers or assistant managers are hired from a supportive role within that industry. Find a manager to mentor you and learn as much as you can about the business and all the different departments. Find a way to build team spirit amoungst departments and volunteer for projects where possible.
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