I Know I Want to be a People Leader - Now What?

If you’ve decided you want to pursue a people manager role, you’ll need to start working toward your goal - building a foundation of the skills and support you will need and making your interests clear to those around you.

1. Make your intentions known. You should be talking to your manager regularly about your professional development. If you have a scheduled review or a standard 1-on-1 on the calendar, set aside some time to talk about your interest in becoming a people leader. You can discuss what opportunities may be available (management training programs, educational reimbursement, etc) and what skills you will want to develop to be ready to take on those responsibilities. (Side note: If you don’t already have a recurring check-in with your manager on the calendar, get one scheduled!)

2. Find opportunities to lead outside of official management roles. There are lots of ways to develop and highlight leadership skills in the workplace. Is there a project or process you can own? Are you able to become involved in training new team members? Can you take the lead in a cross-functional meeting? Often those that are promoted to management within an organization are seen as leaders or “go-to” team members before they are promoted to official people manager positions.

3. Look for professional mentors within and outside our organization if you don’t have them already. I’m a strong believer in having mentors at any stage of your career. Mentors can share their experience and knowledge about your specific industry and can be sounding boards and resources throughout your career. They can provide helpful advice as you are looking to take this next step. Mentors can be people in your current organization (typically not your direct manager), former managers or leaders who have worked with or industry leaders you connect with via networking. I've found that most people want to help others succeed, so don’t be shy about shooting your shot on LinkedIn or at a networking event if you find someone who has a career you’re inspired by and want to make a connection. You should also volunteer to mentor others in your industry or junior employees at your current company.

4. Be patient and track your development. It may take some time for a management role to become available. In the meantime, keep building your skills, documenting how you are growing those attributes and demonstrating leadership qualities, and regularly share these updates up the ladder. This will keep you top of mind when a role opens up, and you’ll have all the data and documentation you need to apply.

5. Be creative. If you’re ready for that next step but there are no imminent management positions available, can you carve out a new management role for yourself? Has your team grown to a point where adding a manager under your current boss makes sense? If your team is geographically divided, could it be beneficial to distribute management responsibilities by region? If your team has junior and senior team members, perhaps a role exists where you focus on managing newer team members while your boss focuses on the more tenured employees. This is something you need to collaborate closely on with your current manager and can also be seen as a growth opportunity for them - they will be creating opportunities for advancement within their team, showing that they can delegate responsibilities and will free  up time on their plate to take on higher-level initiatives. It can be a win-win for everyone.

6. Consider working with a coach. Different from mentors, professional coaches are guides and accountability partners you work with to achieve your goals. Coaches can support you by helping define your objectives, setting clear action plans to get you to where you want to go and keep you accountable on your journey. You typically work with a coach for a set engagement period (3 months, 6 months, etc), with a specific goal in mind that you want to achieve. Coaches won’t tell you exactly what to do, but will partner with you to help you succeed.

If you are confident that becoming a people leader is the right next step in your career, let’s connect on how we can work together to achieve your goal.