| |
| |
|
Management Information |
|
|
|
So, You Want to be in Management? Five Essential Factors that Will Determine Your Chances
The following information is based upon over 500 interviews with senior executives with whom I conducted over the past four years. These senior executives represent a variety of industries and organizations. It is interesting to note the similarities of their responses. The research concentrated on five areas: 1. How they gained their experience and knowledge to become a senior executive. 2. What are their attitudes and opinions concerning the youth of today? 3. What are they most concerned about in running an organization in today's society? 4. What are their hobbies and interests outside of work? 5. What do they read to keep current? How they gained their experience and knowledge: ? For all respondents, education was the number one priority. All had an undergraduate degree and approximately 60% had a graduate degree. They all believed that without a college education, their chances for advancement to senior management were almost unattainable. ? Having mentors throughout their career was very important to these men and women. They learned how to promote themselves through the guidance of a mentor. I highly recommend that you read Steven Scott's book, Mentored By A Millionaire. ? Networking was the key for much of their success within and outside of their industry. When they joined professional associations, they joined with the goal of becoming an officer in the organization for better exposure and networking. Networking consistently served as a catalyst for thinking creatively to capitalize on opportunities. ? They all are students of human behavior. They are keen observers of their employees' and managers' actions. They look for team- oriented individuals who treat others with respect and dignity. Attitude is the key ingredient for being recognized by this group of executives. They are constantly on the look out for talent within and outside of their organizations. ? The majority of these senior executives moved around their organizations every two to three years. A lot of them took lateral transfers in order to understand all facets of the organization. ? It was evident that these senior executives all focused on results. They have no patience for excuses or reasons why something cannot be done. ? All of them are strong advocates of life-long learning. They are voracious readers. They read about many different subjects. Their readings spur creativity which they put into action. They are constantly learning about how others run their organizations and how they can apply those strategies to their organizations. What senior executives are most concerned with: ? Retention of valued employees ? Turnover ? Ethical behavior ? Customer service and satisfaction ? Global competition ? Employee healthcare ? Lack of communication from all levels of the organization ? Lack of employee loyalty and company loyalty to employees ? Finding good people ? Satisfying stockholders while balancing cost, quality, service and employee morale ? Lawsuits/discrimination charges ? Lack of civility towards one another and customers ? Integrating a diverse workforce What senior executives think about today's youth: This question was a mix of attitudes and opinions. It appears that responses were influenced by type of industry and tenure of the senior executives. Here is what they said: ? Bright, ambitious, motivated, opinionated, intelligent and confident ? Have an entrepreneurial mindset ? Ability to multitask ? Need a better work ethic?absenteeism, drugs ? What can the company do for me attitude ? Expectations are too high?expect promotions without paying the dues ? Lack of commitment to the organization ? Have a sense of entitlement ? Lack of civility and professional bearing ? Lack of respect for others ? Too much reliance on technology and not enough people skills Publications senior executives read most: ? Trade publications specifically written about their particular industry Hobbies/Interests of senior executives: ? Golf If your career plan is to ascend to a senior management position, write your own personal action plan based upon how the senior executives in your organization gained their experiences. In addition, think about how you can help them with their major concerns in leading an organization. Read what they read in order to be conversant with them. Look at their hobbies and interests and determine if you have mutual interest with them. If you do, use it to network and display your similar interest through conversation. Lastly, form a positive response for their perception of the youth of today. Suggest ways that they can harness the energy of the youth and put it to a positive force within an organization. Ryan James (R.J.) Lancaster is the president of the Education & Learning Institute, a research, seminar and publishing company. He helps organizations and individuals think differently to ensure their success. He is also a professional speaker and author of E-books. Contact information: (602) 274-4609
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Dealing with Difficult People You know, this would be a great business if it weren't for having to deal with people all the time?OK, so maybe I've exaggerated things a bit, but we've all certainly heard that saying before. Why does that sentiment ring true for so many folks? Obviously it's because of all the people challenges we're presented with in our business. Keep Your Good Workers by Building Good Leaders A recent report from the American Hospital Association's Commission on the Workforce asked healthcare workers key questions about the performance of their front line managers. The study concluded that an employee's decision to stay with or leave an organization is primarily based on his or her relationship with an immediate supervisor. 3 Ingredients of Highly Profitable Organizational Change As waves of organizational change sweep across the business landscape, a huge question arises: What must a leader do to make sure change produces highly profitable results?To find out, I uncovered exactly what executives did who planned and implemented organizational change that produced $10-million - $1-billion in profit improvement.I discovered that highly profitable organizational change requires three key ingredients. Just The Facts Attitudes are more important than facts. Dr. The Myth Of Relationship Selling Revealed At Last The second you quit being the 'best deal' for your customer, he'll drop you like a hot potato. Regardless of how many lunches you've bought him or birthdays you've remembered. Align The Enterprise & Make Beautiful Music Together Q: Why is a great business like a great marching band?A: The players in both organizations are in alignment.Alignment? Yes, Alignment. Creativity and Innovation Management - Psychological Reward Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Increasing the Return on Your Training Investment Insightful leaders and organizations recognize that training is a valuable tool for personal and professional development and therefore set some sort of an annual training budget.Most everyone I've ever talked to has been to both excellent training (hopefully ours!) and training that was, well, not so good. A Rare Leadership Skill: Dealing With People Who Want Out By Offering Crowns For Convoy As a leader, you'll inevitably be faced with people wanting to leave your team or organization. Dealing with the challenge is critical for your leadership success. Toxic Bosses What's everyone's favorite topic around the water cooler? Bad bosses! You know, the ones who make life in the office unbearable? Here are some of the more common varieties you'll find.1. Coaching Champions at Work I saw Brian Kerr (the Irish national football coach) on television not so long ago and it reminded me of a platform I shared with him at a Banking Institute seminar in Dublin. Whilst I was waiting for my turn I listened to Brian and experienced two emotions - admiration and jealousy. The Permissive Environment is the Suspect The permissive and participatory conduct which most employees take for granted, eventually escalates into the more serious assaultive behavior commonly referred to as employee on employee workplace violence starts with innuendos, a bad word, or simple jokes taken out of context or used to inflame another. Initiation of a proper and thorough investigation is possible under the auspices of a Threat Assessment Team. Can What Someone Does Off-hours Affect Your Business? Q: How much do I have to worry about what people who are part of my far-flung "virtual" corporation do when they're not working directly for me? I can't share too many details because the situation is touchy, as you might expect, but basically I have someone working for me as a writer, contributing material for my blog, and I have been hearing that he's writing some pretty far out, offensive material on other sites. Do I need to worry about it?A: This is a difficult situation, no question, and one that comes up more and more as we've moved away from employee-as-chattel-for-life and towards plug-and- play cogs in all the machines of the modern economy. Is A Bad Attitude Permanent Today there is great weight put on a person's attitude. It is as if this is something for which they are individually responsible and should be held to account for. Innovation Management: The Quality and Quantity of the Idea Pool Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Manage or Lead - Why the Difference Matters and What to Do About That Difference Many books have been written about managing people, and an equally large number have been written about leadership. Some use the words manage and lead interchangeably, and some talk about the differences between the words, building a distinction based on style or behaviors. The Comfort Zone The Comfort Zone I have a friend named Gene, a serial entrepreneur who currently runs a software business. Like many people, last year was a tough one for his company. Resistance - How to Handle It Do you ever meet with resistance from other people - I bet you do! It might be a customer, a colleague, a member of your team or even someone in your personal life. Dealing with resistance or objections is one of the biggest challenges faced by business people; so let's consider why we get resistance and how we can handle it. Innovation Management - Diversity Can Make All The Difference Companies are welcoming a diverse range of employees (The Sunday Times, April 10 2005). Doh!It is incredible that this concept is getting coverage in 2005. One Bad Apple One Bad Apple I know what you are thinking but no, I am not doing a tribute to Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Although I will admit that their hit song from the 70's keeps rolling around in my mind as I type this.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
