Is It Time To Advance? How to Know When Your Time to Lead Has Come

Whether or not you have a great job, a great boss and a great work ethic, you could be starting to look to take the next step in your career.

While being promoted to boss is a great step up in any business, not everyone has what it takes to be in a leadership role. So if you’re considering a move up the corporate ladder, first see if these management qualities match up to what you bring to the table.

Are you…

Observant?

In order to solve problems, you have to know they’re occurring. Are you able to notice pain points and performance detractors?

This information doesn’t come in a how-to manual; in fact, when you survey your employees, you might even get positive feedback. Don’t take the “no news is good news” approach or even write off a positive report as fact; an astute leader will intuit what’s right and what’s wrong without having to ask. Always follow up on the instincts you have.

Empathetic?

Management is a people business. You can bring great ideas to the table and execute each one with great efficacy but it’s not until you’ve rallied the troops with enthusiasm and productivity that you’ve made it into the big leagues of leadership. In order to motivate, inspire and mentor your employees, you need to be good at understanding people. Without empathy, building relationships with your employees will teeter on impossible.

Don’t confused empathy for sympathy; the latter could be taken advantage of. But being powerfully compassionate when your employees are having a hard time at work or at home can take the individual, the team and your career a long way.

Coachable?

How good will you be at providing learning opportunities to your employees if you can’t accept learning opportunities for yourself?  A person who seeks out feedback and embraces it when delivered, will be much more open to viewing feedback as a helpful process.  Receiving and giving feedback well is a key part of being a skilled leader.  Transparency and sharing honest feedback is part of the coaching process, one that you can deploy with your employees to help them grow.

Skilled?

Now that you’ve got your people skills down, what initiative are you going to take to better the company? Have you had any ideas lingering but previously didn’t have the authority to take it to the right people or get it done?  Now’s your chance. Leading by example is going to make the managerial skills you’ve honed shine all the more.

Not everyone is cut out to be the boss. While you might be ready to move on from your current position, be sure to ask yourself some important questions before deciding if leadership is for you. If you’re not quite there, reach out to a supportive boss or mentor to help steer you in the right direction.

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Do you want to motivate and lead your staff more effectively? My executive coaching services can help you hone your leadership skills and clearly define your goals and objectives.