But how do theygetthe experience if no one will hire them without it?
Instead, your best bet is to be promoted internally.
In these cases, crossing over from an individual contributor to a leader requires positioning yourself for the job.
Its not about writing your resume so that your project work sounds like management.
Rather, its about relationships, skills, and taking risks.
To be a boss, you need all three.
Heres how to prepare yourself for that next step.
Understand the management role
Leadership isnt for everyone.
Just because youre a high performer in your current role doesnt mean you should be the boss.
Leading people requires a much different skill set.
Leadership is about getting results through others.
Aside from reading job descriptions, talk to people in management roles at your company.
Talk to at least three to five people.
Then, determine if you think management is the right fit for you.
Some decide its not and know theyll be more gratified being solely responsible for their own work.
Others realize that the responsibility of leading others to do great work is what they want to pursue.
People get new jobs all the time without the positions being posted.
I once lost out on a management job because no one knew I wanted it.
I was frustrated and confident I was more qualified based on experience from a prior company.
Dont depend on anyone else to develop your career.
Make your career aspirations known.
If you want to be a manager, begin by telling your boss, and let others know too.
Also, the ability to discuss performance openly is a core competency of leadership.
Then, dont hesitate to put this new information to use in your current role.
You dont have to be a manager to demonstrate asking questions and listening or appreciating others.
It is intended to make you learn something new.
It stretches your knowledge, skills, and your comfort zone.
Because youre positioning yourself for management, ask for a project that involves leading a committee or work group.
Effective leadership often comes down to interacting with people so be sure the stretch assignment has you doing that.
When you get the assignment, treat is a test run for a management job.
The mindset you want is one of learning and determining whether a management role is indeed what you want.
Some can be too small and the leadership positions too few.
Others are big and have invite-only management development programs.
This means, to become a manager, you have to be selected to participate in the program.
Prepare by developing the right relationships, building skills, and taking risksthats what leadership is all about anyway.
