Tom Lemanski's

Your Bridge to Discovery

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Developing Your Leadership Maturity

Corporate Ladder

Advancing High Potential Managers to Leadership Roles

Corporate Ladder

What changes need to occur as managers advance from front line responsibilities to managing other managers to executive leadership to the C-Suite?

According to the authors of Leadership Conversations: Challenging High Potential Managers to Become Great Leaders, Alan S. Berson and Richard G. Stieglitz, your conversations, activities and approach must evolve.

It is certainly true that a person can lead from any position in an organization.  However climbing the corporate ladder requires an evolution of skill sets and mindsets. And, the relationships required to influence others at each level also must evolve.

I believe that the table below (extracted from the book) helps to clarify the progression of relationship and activity changes that need to occur as you advance to the top of the org chart.

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Leadership Role Progressions

Leadership Role Progressions Table

Role/Activity

Front Line Manager

Manager of Managers

Executive Leader

CXO Leader

Relationships

Learns the value of relationships and how to use them

Learns to manage across as well as up and down

Includes other industry leaders in network

Learns the value of relationships and how to use them

Developing Others

Develops the technical skills of is or her people

Learns to coach first line managers and direct reports

Coaches and mentors others as an essential task

Builds culture to develop people at all levels

Making Decisions

Considers resources to be a constraint

Engages team in decisions and in securing resources

Uses best practices and is open to mentoring

Makes decisions based on the vision and the strategic plan

Taking Action

Directs people to complete specific tasks

Coordinates across teams to achieve larger goals

Converts vision into strategy

Empowers the enterprise to succeed

Your Leadership Progression

What about YOUR leadership development? I challenge you to ask yourself:

  • Where are you now as a manager and a leader?
  • Are you still clinging to activities listed in the column to the left of your current status?
  • What are the skill sets and mindsets that you need to develop to prepare for both your current and next roles?

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome. 

– Arthur Ashe

One Response

  1. Tom,
    Leadership is other directed. The leader is out front doing first what is expected of the team. The leader gives credit to the team for all success and conversely takes sole responsibility if there is a failure or a setback. Leaders a quick with praise and recognition, rewarding the behaviors desired.

    Best…Scott

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