Not everyone is cut out for management. It takes a certain type of drive and skill set to manage a team of employees and reach a department’s goals.
However, anyone can learn such skills and develop the personality and ambition needed to fill a management role. If you’d like to move up in your company or if you’re looking for ways to improve in your current position, here are three tips you can use to boost your career.
1. Educate yourself
Whether you’re currently in a management position or seeking to advance into management, you need to master the fundamentals and keep up on the latest best practices.
You might obtain an MBA or post-graduate degree related to your field, or you might join an industry organization that hosts webinars, classes, and annual conferences. There are plenty of online courses you can take to learn the basics and work on specific skills.
Choose an educational path and create a solid plan to help you maintain a strong knowledge base and keep your skills sharp. Learn about the latest technology, business trends and strategies, and platforms for team training and communication.
The more savvy you are about your field and management in general, the better you’ll be able to lead your team to success.
2. Focus on quality
Management isn’t just about being on top and in charge of a team; it’s also about delivering the highest quality possible. Though a manager’s title makes you feel good and accomplished, resist the temptation to get on a power trip and neglect the purpose of your position.
Look to the health care industry for insight on how to focus on quality, advocate for your team members and customers, and measure impacts.
Working on developing a strong culture among your team is recommended to ensure consistency along with quality. Examples from health care can be directly applied to any business no matter the products or services provided.
3. Learn how to lead
There’s a big difference between management and leadership. To truly succeed, you need to understand the underlying principles of each. Management is more about the paperwork, organization, daily operations, and infrastructure of a team and department. Leadership, however, goes beyond the task-oriented nature of management and digs into the emotional aspects of work.
Good leaders can motivate and encourage team members to work hard and strive to be their best selves. They inspire their teams with insight and wisdom instead of dictating rules and procedures.
Leaders are the epitome of high-quality team members and focus their efforts on uplifting their colleagues. They also have excellent communication skills. USC offers a degree in communications which can help any leader improve upon ability to communicate.
Ready to step up?
Talk to a supervisor or mentor about how to move up in your company and take the next steps. Get all the education and training you need to be successful and learn how to be a good leader in addition to a good manager. Focus on developing and leading a team that delivers quality and creates positive impacts for the company overall.