Looking to climb that corporate ladder? Find out if you’ve got what it takes to get to the top.
Can you delegate?
Being a manager means taking on more responsibilities, and ultimately having less time to spend on the type of work you used to do. In order to ensure it still gets done, you’ll need to delegate it to one of your team members, someone you can trust to get the job done. Are you able to distribute tasks among your team, and leave them to it?
Can you trust your team?
Micromanagers are people who need to control every last tiny detail. Effective managers are people who brief their team and then trust them to carry out the necessary tasks on their own. Micromanagers breed irritation and resentment; effective managers breed respect and admiration. Do you have what it takes to be the latter?
Can you have difficult conversations?
Stepping into a management role is less about long lunches and more about guiding employees’ careers – which sometimes means having hard conversations about their progress, their path or their performance. Are you able to set any anxiety aside and have a frank discussion with your team members for their own good?
Can you mentor employees effectively?
The first thing you’ll find out as a manager is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to mentoring team members. Each person you’re responsible for will need a different mentoring strategy. Does your management style have the flexibility it needs, and are you intuitive enough to guide and motivate employees to do better than their best?
Can you take on your new role successfully?
As a regular employee, you and your colleagues were friends. As a manager, you’ll experience a different dynamic. You’re now no longer everyone’s friend; instead you’re tasked with upskilling employees, having tough conversations and making important decisions. Can you adjust to this new way of working without feeling resentful?
Obviously if you’ve answered yes to every question, you’re on your way up. But even if you can’t answer yes right now doesn’t mean you won’t be able to in the future. Simply keep in mind that these are the key qualities managers need to possess, and start cultivating them in order to move through the ranks.
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